Lewis Hamilton has admitted that it’s “inevitable” that Mercedes will exclude him from development talks in the near future once preparations for the 2025 Formula 1 season ramp up.
Hamilton sent shockwaves through the F1 paddock when he announced ahead of the 2024 season that this campaign would be the last with the Silver Arrows before a 2025 switch to Ferrari.
The seven-time Formula 1 Drivers’ champion has been in the F1 game for nearly two decades and that experience tells him that sooner or later he will likely be frozen out of Mercedes technical meetings regarding next year’s car.
Carlos Sainz, who Hamilton is replacing at Ferrari has already said it is “obvious” to be kept out of future planning and Mercedes’ departing star has a similar outlook.
“I haven’t been excluded from any meetings and we’re still working on this car and trying to get the car to the front,” Hamilton said in response to Motorsport Week asking if he’s been kept out of meetings at this stage in the season.
“So it’s still very collaborative. And I mean, I’ve been here a long time. So if there’s a point where they’re like, we’re preferring not to be in this meeting, that’s totally fine with me.
“I mean, it’s inevitable perhaps at one stage, but at the end of the day, nothing I have, no information that I would get this year will impact next year because I’m not in communication.
“Nothing passes hands until I start the season next year. And it takes time to develop things.”
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon is also departing his team at the end of the season for an as-yet-unknown destination.
The Frenchman said “Of course, I’m not going to spend time working on next year’s car,” but was adamant his contribution can make an impact for the remainder of this campaign.
“I haven’t been excluded from any meetings at the moment,” the outgoing Alpine driver said.
“I think the team would lose out from one more comment about the car and the drive moving forward if there was only 50% of the comment going on. So that hasn’t been the case. I just hope it won’t be the case.”
The Alpine driver said his lack of involvement in the 2025 Alpine means “I can spend more time on, focusing on the 2024 machine.”
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