16 February 2024 , 22:55
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Martin Brundle bluntly dismissed Lewis Hamilton's suggestion that his final season with Mercedes will be an 'emotional' one.
Hamilton, 39, sealed a shock move to Ferrari earlier this month, but he will not join the Italian manufacturer until 2025 as he still has one year left on his contract. Hamilton, who signed for Mercedes back in 2013, informed team principal Toto Wolff a matter of weeks before the start of the new season.
Speaking at the Mercedes' W15 launch earlier this week, Hamilton described his feelings as 'emotional and surreal' heading into his 11th and final season with the team. He only signed a two-year deal with Mercedes in August but over the winter has decided to end his deal early and team up with Ferrari.
But Sky Sports F1 pundit gave Hamilton's comments short shrift. "I don't buy all of this, 'It's going to be emotional leaving'... Lewis is a winning machine, and that's what he wants to do," he told the Sky Sports F1 podcast. "It's a good contract, he'll be paid a lot of money, get a lot of love and it will be one of global sport's biggest stories in 2025.
"The teams are slightly disingenuous when they tell you about new contract signings because they only tell you edited highlights that suit them," Brundle added. "Clearly, they forgot to mention that Hamilton had an exit clause, which he has chosen to take very early indeed. F1 contracts can be up to 100 pages but often there is an exit clause, or a performance-related clause included."
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Hamilton will get his farewell Mercedes tour underway at the Bahrain Grand Prix in March and he is focused on the new season. "(The last few weeks) have obviously been emotional and it is very surreal to be here," Hamilton said. "The focus through the whole of winter training is getting the team back to where we once were.
"We have had these difficult couple of years which have been really grounding for us. It has helped us regroup and really look at things."
Lewis Hamilton will leave Mercedes at the end of the season (Getty Images)Hamilton has won the World Championship seven times and needs one more to become the outright most successful F1 driver of all-time. Hamilton is currently level with Michael Schumacher - and last year's champion Max Verstappen is not surprised about his move to Ferrari.
"I mean I think at the end of the day, seeing him go to Ferrari… it's not a surprise," Verstappen said at Red Bull's launch event. "You know, if that's your goal as a kid or your dream then you go, right? The only thing for me was that it seemed like it was a bit leaked, of course, and then they had to announce it.
"Because to announce something that big that early in the season I think for sure, for the rest of the year is a bit, I would say a little bit awkward. Even though you've had a lot of success together as a team, you can't be included into everything anymore. But for him going to Ferrari, it's not really shocking, you know."