Verstappen finds timing of Hamilton's move to Ferrari remarkable

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton battled it out for the world championship in 2021. The Dutchman prevailed. It has since been announced that Hamilton will make the switch to Ferrari in 2025. Verstappen finds the timing of the transfer announcement interesting.

The news that came out on Thursday, 1 February, was downright striking. In 2023, there were rumours of Hamilton going to Ferrari, but nothing concrete came of it. Hamilton even extended his contract with Mercedes, but the Briton decided to trigger a clause in that contract anyway, allowing him to go to Ferrari. Verstappen finds it difficult to pass judgement on the switch because he does not know what is going on within Mercedes and Ferrari.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff found the timing surprising, he revealed after the announcement. Verstappen agrees, telling GPblog and others: "Of course that does make it harder for the whole team to work well together all year. Everyone is professional, and they will be able to deal with that just fine because they have had so much success together. But then, of course, at some meetings, you may not be there anymore."