SIR LEWIS HAMILTON sent shockwaves around the world when it was announced he will be joining Ferrari.
Hamilton, 39, is poised to end his glittering 11-year stint with Mercedes to join the Formula One giants for the 2025 season despite agreeing a two-year deal with his current team.
F1 fans were left stunned following the announcement, except one – Channel 4 presenter Steve Jones.
Jones claimed he has known about Sir Lewis’ imminent move to Ferrari since last May.
The TV host linked up with Hamilton’s soon-to-be ex-teammate George Russell for an interview in Monaco.
And that is when the presenter told Russell he would be losing his partner because of a vision he had.
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And in it he saw none other than Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari – who died in 1988 – telling him Hamilton is joining his team.
Jones said almost nine months ago: “It’s happening. I’ve seen it in one of my visions.
“The ghost of Enzo Ferrari came to me and he said, ‘Lewis, you are coming to Ferrari’.
“It’s happening. We can’t stop it at this point.”
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WHO COULD REPLACE HAMILTON AT MERCEDES?
Mercedes will have a vacant seat for 2025.
Here, SunSport’s F1 correspondent Ben Hunt looks at FIVE potential candidates who could replace him and partner George Russell at the Silver Arrows.
Oscar Piastri – McLaren have sewn up Lando Norris to a new long-term contract that should (in theory) put him out of Mercedes’ reach. However, they are yet to tie down his teammate Piastri, 22. The Aussie has an excellent record and won the Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles before spending a year on the sidelines with Alpine and getting his chance in F1 with McLaren. He impressed on his debut season last year and has the potential to be a world champion.
Daniel Ricciardo – The experienced driver’s future remains in doubt as he bides his time at Red Bull’s B-team. Ricciardo would be low-hassle and offer some stability but by that time he would be 35. It seems unlikely that they would opt for him at this point in his career, but if he has a good season this year, he could come into the reckoning.
Kimi Antonelli – You may not have heard of the Italian, but he is mustard. Still only 17, he has won at all the junior categories and has been part of the Mercedes young driver programme since 2019. This season he has been promoted from F4 to F2, where he has been tipped to shine. A good debut season in F2 could sway Mercedes into taking a risk on him for 2025. Antonelli and his family are close to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Mick Schumacher – Wolff has always been so incredibly supportive of Schumacher and spoken highly of him, that you’d at least expect him to come into consideration. He knows the team from his role as reserve driver and consequently would get up to speed. But speed is also the problem. He was shocking at Haas and if he really was THAT good, he’d still be driving in F1.
Alex Albon – A more sensible choice would be the London-born Albon. A great guy who is also very quick. He has a fantastic relationship with Russell and would be the low-maintenance quick partnership similar to Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas that swept to successive titles. Albon would take little convincing to join from Williams and Mercedes would not need to pay him half of the £50million they were dishing out to Hamilton.
F1 insiders believe the deal could be completed within the next 24 hours in a bombshell move that would see Hamilton partner Charles Leclerc.
Mercedes are yet to officially confirm the Brit’s departure, but SunSport understands that staff were told of his exit in a ten-minute meeting today.
The legendary driver has been without a win since December 2021 following a string of losses to rival Max Verstappen.
Hamilton will be hoping this move finally lands him a record eighth world championship – when he is 40 years old.
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Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
