Lewis Hamilton’s 2025 move to Ferrari has been branded as ‘sad’ by a legendary world champion due to the collateral damage it has inflicted.

Hamilton will be lining up in the famous scarlet colours of the Scuderia from the 2025 season after choosing to bail out of his Mercedes contract with a year to run after triggering an option within the deal.

The seven-time world champion will now line up alongside Charles Leclerc at Maranello in what is set to be a mouthwatering prospect as they aim to battle each other as well as Red Bull for world championships.

However, according to 1978 world champion Mario Andretti, the move will be sad to see in light of how it has instantly changed another career.

Hamilton’s arrival will also mean Carlos Sainz is now without a drive for next season, an extraordinary scenario given he has been one of only two drivers to win a race over the past 21 grands prix which has seen Max Verstappen win 19 of them.

Carlos Sainz is out at Ferrari at the end of 2024

Lewis Hamilton will leave Mercedes to replace Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz deserves F1 seat at the top
Following on from his victory at the Singapore Grand Prix last season, the only non-Red Bull win in 2023, Sainz also triumphed at the most recent Australian GP.

Now Andretti believes that having shown the ability to potentially one day become a world champion, Sainz deserves a top seat in F1 from next season.

He told Gazzetta dello Sport: “I’m a little sad to see that he was sacrificed to make room for Hamilton. But certainly, the way he is racing, he has the right to find a seat with which to fight to win: he has earned a top team for the future.

“Carlos, compared to Charles, had everything sorted out well from the start in Melbourne, a better feeling with the SF-24.”