Mercedes race team co-ordinator Stephen Lord has revealed that he expected Lewis Hamilton to return to McLaren after his F1 stint with the Silver Arrows.
And he claimed that a move to Ferrari has been in Hamilton‘s mind “all along”, revealing the subject cropped up in conversation with the seven-time World Champion some years ago.
Hamilton announced earlier this year that he will join Ferrari on a multi-year contract from the F1 2025 season, ending his long and successful partnership with Mercedes.
The British driver claimed six of his joint-record seven World Championships with Mercedes, as well as becoming the first man to surpass 100 grand prix wins and pole positions.
The last team upgrade in Hamilton’s career came in early 2013, when he sensationally switched McLaren for Mercedes in one of the most unexpected moves in F1 history.
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Hamilton claimed his maiden F1 title with McLaren in 2008, but opted to replace Michael Schumacher at Mercedes – who had won just a single race since taking over the title-winning Brawn GP outfit in late 2009 – after years of underachievement with the Woking-based team.
Appearing on F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast, Lord revealed that he suspects Hamilton will return to McLaren once his time at Mercedes ends.
Asked if he was surprised by Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, he replied: “Not at all. Because I think that’s his plan from the beginning. “
“A few years ago, this came up in conversations. In fact, I thought he might be tempted to return to McLaren, but I was completely wrong.
“We had a conversation years ago and he always said that he felt most drivers had a desire to, at least at some point in their career, drive the Ferrari.
“So I wasn’t at all.
“It’s the oldest and most recognizable team in the pit lane, with the history and esteem in which that pass is held, I think it’s inevitable that other people will need to pass through there. “
Appearing on the Performance People podcast earlier this year, Hamilton revealed he was told his “career’s over” after electing to leave McLaren for Mercedes before it proved to be the “best decision ever made.”
Invited to pinpoint the defining moment of his career, he said: “It will probably have been when I decided to join Mercedes.
“I was in Thailand at the time, between races after Singapore, and that’s when I made the decision.
“And I said to myself, ‘I need to take the leap from religion and I’ll do it no matter what others say. ‘»
“Almost everyone told me to stay, but I followed my intuition and intuition and it was the most productive for me.
“Me with a team that won the championship. Me with McLaren, who had such a wonderful story.
“Obviously Mercedes owned part of McLaren, and therefore was also part of their team, but then they split up and bought their own team and, when they tried to gain momentum, they didn’t have much success.
“I think they were the fifth or sixth-best team at the time, so they were often finishing out of the top 10, struggling to get into the top 10.
“As a world champion, other people said, ‘This is the worst decision you can make, it’s not a wonderful team and your career is over. ‘
“All the pundits, all the media, all the fans, everyone says, ‘The race is over. ‘ »
“And then everything came together and everyone said, ‘Oh, this is the most productive resolution ever made. ‘”
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