Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton and the ‘it’ rumor of 2020-21

It’s no secret what the biggest rumor in Formula 1 has been regarding next year’s driver lineup. Now that rumor has finally ended.

With both six-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel in contract seasons in 2020 and Vettel having struggled as of late, the rumors of a Hamilton move to Ferrari were inevitable.

Hamilton is the only driver in Formula 1 history to win at least four championships and never driver for the Italian team. Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio, four-time world champion Alain Prost and obviously Vettel all spent time with the team.

With both drivers in contract years this year, everything appeared to be lined up to make it a real possibility; one source even called the move “certain”.

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Hamilton is well-positioned to win another world championship this year to tie Schumacher’s record, and he is poised to break Schumacher’s all-time wins record of 91 as well. He currently sits at 84 career victories.

At that point, he will have basically done everything he can possibly do in Formula 1. Why not close out your career in red? So when Vettel and Ferrari officially announced that they would not be continuing their relationship after the 2020 season comes to a close, the “it” rumor of 2020-21 Silly Season began to heat up again.

The favorites to replace Vettel were Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr. But with Hamilton still not having signed a deal to continue driving for Mercedes next year, he lingered as one of the several longshots, even though he had been tipped to return to Mercedes next year despite reports suggesting that contract talks had stalled.

But now — finally — the “it” rumor has officially been put to bed, never to be heard from again — at least not this year.

Sainz is set to replace Vettel at Ferrari, and Ricciardo is set to make the move to McLaren to replace Sainz.

So now Charles Leclerc is under contract at Ferrari through 2024, Lando Norris is under contract at McLaren through 2022 and Max Verstappen is under contract at Red Bull Racing through 2023, so if Hamilton returns to Formula 1 next year as expected, Mercedes is really his only feasible option.

The fact that Ferrari’s driver lineup is now full, however, could give Mercedes additional leverage when it comes to the terms of his new deal, especially since team principal and CEO Toto Wolff publicly showed interest in hiring Vettel, calling him an “asset” and referring to his Ferrari departure a development that cannot be ignored.

Could that complicate things?

Regardless, Lewis Hamilton will not be in red next year, ending the rumors that have swirled about the matter for the last several months, if not years.