After having so many successful seasons with Lewis Hamilton, has Mercedes and Toto Wolff shot themselves in the foot by calling the 7-time champion wrong?

After 2022, there was little doubt that the zero-pod concept on the W13 was a dead end, and Hamilton knew it.

But despite his warnings, Mercedes chose to stick with the concept for the W14, and the Brit had to pay for it with another winless season.

And that might have been a contributing factor to his decision to switch to Ferrari in 2025. And while Hamilton’s deal with Mercedes doesn’t allow him to take any of his crew to a different team, a former Ferrari driver believes that the ensuing chaos at Red Bull could nudge Adrian Newey to join hands with Hamilton at Maranello.

Red Bull Racing has been under the spotlight ever since allegations of inappropriate and controlling behavior against Christian Horner were made public early in February by the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. Soon after, the parent company, Red Bull GmbH, released a statement in which they noted that they had launched an internal probe against Horner to look into the matter and that they were taking the situation seriously. Since then, a lot of speculations and rumors have surrounded the team’s future, and Mika Salo believes that it might give Ferrari the impetus to fetch key Red Bull members like Adrian Newey into the team.

Lewis Hamilton stepped back after being called wrong by Mercedes

According to GB News, Lewis Hamilton has provided insight into his challenges with Mercedes prior to the 2023 season in the upcoming season of Netflix’s ‘Drive To Survive.’ As per their report, Lewis expressed concerns about the car’s performance quite early on, however, Mercedes dismissed his opinion. Hamilton recalled, “I remember they said, like, we know what we’re doing, you’re wrong.” After this, Hamilton backed down until the team realized he was right all along.

Hamilton also reflected on how Mercedes’ decline in form affected him personally, admitting that he felt helpless due to the car’s poor performance as he tried to deliver results with subpar equipment. Despite the setbacks, Hamilton initially committed to Mercedes, signing a two-year contract extension till the end of 2025. However, it is only now that we know he had an exit clause after 1 year. And he used it to fulfill what he called his “childhood dream” to drive for Ferrari.

We have seen all sorts of speculations about why the 39-year-old might have decided to switch to Ferrari. And now Mika Salo has shared his own thoughts on the matter.

Salo believes Hamilton knows more about Ferrari than we suspect

As an ex-Ferrari driver himself, Salo brings a unique perspective to the sea of ideas about Hamilton’s shocking move, suggesting that there may be undisclosed factors motivating the 7-time champion. According to Salo, Hamilton must have access to insider information at Ferrari.

“I believe Hamilton knows something that the rest of us do not yet know,” Salo remarked to the Iltalehti newspaper. “Whether it is related to the development of Ferrari’s car or the staff of the team, it is difficult to say. However, there must be a reason why he made the decision to move. In light of the current power balance in F1, it would otherwise make no sense.”

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Can Ferrari make an enticing offer to Adrian Newey that he just couldn’t resist? Should they? What are your thoughts on the matter?