Mercedes has confirmed the seven-time champion will depart the team at the end of the season and join Ferrari next season.

Speculation of the move was rife yesterday after reports emerged out of Italy that a deal was close.

That has now played out, with Mercedes and Ferrari confirming the news.

The latter came via a one-line statement announcing Hamilton on a multi-year contract.

“Scuderia Ferrari is pleased to announce that Lewis Hamilton will be joining the team in 2025, on a multi-year contract.”

It followed shortly after Mercedes broke news of Hamilton’s departure from the squad.

“I have had an amazing 11 years with this team and I’m so proud of what we have achieved together,” said Hamilton.

“Mercedes has been part of my life since I was 13 years old. It’s a place where I have grown up, so making the decision to leave was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make.

“But the time is right for me to take this step and I’m excited to be taking on a new challenge.

“I will be forever grateful for the incredible support of my Mercedes family, especially Toto for his friendship and leadership and I want to finish on a high together.

“I am 100 percent committed to delivering the best performance I can this season and making my last year with the Silver Arrows, one to remember.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff added: “In terms of a team-driver pairing, our relationship with Lewis has become the most successful the sport has seen, and that’s something we can look back on with pride; Lewis will always be an important part of Mercedes motorsport history.

“However, we knew our partnership would come to a natural end at some point, and that day has now come.

“We accept Lewis’s decision to seek a fresh challenge, and our opportunities for the future are exciting to contemplate. But for now, we still have one season to go, and we are focused on going racing to deliver a strong 2024.”

His decision to depart Mercedes has come courtesy of a break clause in the deal he inked with the operation last year.

That would have otherwise kept him in Brackley until the end of 2025.

His defection from the team with which he’s taken 82 of his 103 grands prix wins comes as the squad is battling to regain its position at the head of the F1 field.

Mercedes dominated F1 from 2014 until 2020, with Hamilton only narrowly missing out on the 2021 world title (Mercedes won the constructors’ crown).

Under regulations introduced for 2022, the team has slipped behind Red Bull Racing and spent much of the time battling with Ferrari as best of the rest.

Mercedes secured second in the constructurs’ championship at the end of 2023, though faced stiff competition from Ferrari and a resurgent McLaren.

Hamilton has routinely spoken about his desire to win, with his Mercedes exit suggesting he has more faith in what Maranello can deliver.

It’s a bold call from the veteran, given the Scuderia last won a world title in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton’s arrival spells the end of the road for Sainz in Maranello and marks him as arguably the hottest property on the driver market.

Given the 29-year-old’s links to Red Bull Racing in his junior days, he would be a strong candidate to replace Sergio Perez.

However, he’s also been linked with a move to Audi once it arrives in F1 in 2026 – a move a year early to settle in is not beyond the realms of possibility, either.

Hamilton’s move also drives up the value of Alex Albon, who impressed at Williams last season and has also been linked with a move to Red Bull Racing but would be a strong candidate to replace his countryman at Mercedes.