Lewis Hamilton chooses legacy building with Mercedes over immediate success with dominant Red Bull.
Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton has expressed his preference for continuing to build his legacy with Mercedes over joining a dominant team like Red Bull. Despite not winning a race since 2021, Hamilton remains committed to the Brackley-based squad, as he pursues his eighth World Championship.
Lewis Hamilton has recently made a significant statement about his future and aspirations in the sport. The Mercedes driver, who has not seen a victory since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, remains steadfast in his commitment to Mercedes, a team he has been with since 2013.
For Hamilton, the idea of joining Red Bull, which has shown dominance in 2022 and 2023, does not align with his vision for his career. In a candid conversation with the media, Hamilton shared his thoughts on why he chose to continue with Mercedes. He emphasised that while every driver dreams of being in a winning car, for him, the journey of transforming a less successful team into a champion holds greater appeal.
The British driver commented:
“I think of the signing, and it has shown my commitment to the team.
“Let’s be realistic, every single driver that is racing here dreams of being in a winning car, and I think in my younger days when I hadn’t maybe had a lot of success in the McLaren days, it was a lot more attractive.
“When I think about it from a racing perspective, when I moved to this team, I enjoyed moving from a more successful team to a team that hadn’t had success with the vision of growing and building with a team, because when we did that, it was such a better feeling.
“Every driver here looks at the Red Bull car and would love to drive that car, and I am not saying that I wouldn’t love to drive that car and feel how good it is, every driver would feel that.”
Reflecting on Mercedes’ recent performance struggles, Hamilton continued:
“We’ve had two difficult years, and if we work towards being that car, it is going to be a way better feeling than stepping into the best car.
“That wouldn’t do much for me, in the sense of stepping into the car that is the most dominant of all-time.
“Working with my team to build and be able to beat them, that would be better for my legacy.”
