Seven-times Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has activated a release option in his contract and will leave Mercedes at the end of the season so he can join Ferrari in a blockbuster transfer.

“Scuderia Ferrari is pleased to announce that Lewis Hamilton will be joining the team in 2025, on a multiyear contract,” the record F1 champion said in a statement on Thursday, after Mercedes had confirmed the British great would be leaving.

“I have had an amazing 11 years with this team and I’m so proud of what we have achieved together. Mercedes has been part of my life since I was 13 years old,” Hamilton had earlier said.

“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.”

Tweet from @F1

Hamilton said he wanted to finish his time at Mercedes on a high and was “100 per cent committed to delivering the best performance I can this season and making my last year with the Silver Arrows, one to remember”.

The 39-year-old Briton will replace Spanish driver Carlos Sainz alongside Charles Leclerc. The move will give the Italian team a world champion in one of its cars for the first time since Germany’s Sebastian Vettel left in 2020.

The biggest driver move since Hamilton left a winning McLaren for a then-unproven Mercedes at the end of 2012 came as a surprise, despite speculation over the years that it could happen.

Hamilton is the sport’s most successful driver and Ferrari the oldest, most glamorous and successful team – and both are hungry to end lean periods.

Hamilton has not won a race since December 2021 and Ferrari has not won a title since 2007 since Kimi Raikkonen.

-AAP