Lewis Hamilton recently reflected on his bold decision to switch from McLaren to Mercedes in 2013. At the time, many doubted the move, fearing it could spell the end of his career. Now, with seven world championship titles to his name, Hamilton looks back on that choice as a defining moment, driven by his intuition, that ultimately paved the way for his remarkable success with Mercedes.
The seven-time world champion secured his first world title in 2008 with McLaren, the team where he started his F1 career and which was among the fastest on the grid. However, four years later, he moved to Mercedes, a team that had been largely mid-field and had achieved only one race win in the previous three seasons.
The decision saw the world criticize Hamilton, with many critics labeling it a career gamble. Eventually, though, Hamilton’s gut feeling proved correct, leading him to secure a total of seven world championship titles by 2020, matching the record set by Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher.
In a recent interview on the Performance People podcast, Hamilton looked back at his career-defining moment when he made the bold decision to leave McLaren for Mercedes. He said:
“It will probably have been when I decided to join Mercedes.
“I was in Thailand at the time, in between races after Singapore, and that’s when I made the decision.
“And I was like: ‘I want to take the leap of faith and I’m going to go with it, regardless of what people say.’
“Pretty much everyone told me to stay, but I went with my gut and my intuition and it was the best thing for me.
“I was with a championship-winning team. I was with McLaren, which had such a great history.
“Obviously Mercedes used to own half of McLaren, and so it was partly their team, but then they broke away and bought their own team and as they were trying to ramp up, they weren’t having a lot of 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, people were like: ‘This is the worst decision you can make, this is not a great team and your career is over.’
“All the pundits, all the media outlets, all the fans, everyone was like: ‘Career’s over.’
“And then it went well and everyone’s like: ‘Oh, it’s the best decision ever made.’”
Given his love for challenges, Hamilton disclosed the reason to ignore the warnings offered by others. He added:
“I think it was just really that I wanted a challenge at the time and I love taking risks. I always have.
“And also I never liked doing the same thing everyone expects of me, so that’s why I never did well at school.
“I meditated on it, I prayed on it, trying to think of what I wanted to do and I just loved the challenge.
“I thought that, where I was, I didn’t feel like I was being challenged enough.
“And going into a really uncomfortable position, getting out of your comfort zone, is what I love to do, because it’s nerve-wracking, but I love that feeling. That’s the feeling you get when you get in a Formula 1 car.
“But moving into a new team, people I didn’t know, having to get integrated, all the changes you need to make, and then the growth process of building it and evolving it and growing towards a common goal.
“Getting there is the greatest feeling when you do eventually do that.”
Despite joining Mercedes in 2013, the British driver revealed it wasn’t until 2015 that he began enjoying his time at the Brackley outfit. He said:
“I was getting to qualify on pole, I was up at the front, we were fighting for this championship and I couldn’t believe that the decision I made was paying off: ‘Wow, it’s really, really happening. This is the right thing for me.’ I was riding this beautiful wave.
“When I look back, I think: was it the most competitive season?
“I was competing with my team-mate. He was tough to beat, but in general you would always prefer that you’re competing with several teams. That’s what the sport should be doing.
“More often than not, that’s not the case, but I’m still grateful for it obviously.
“I think it was until 2015 that I was really, really able to properly enjoy it.
“The first one I didn’t enjoy because it was just – I don’t know – it just wasn’t a great time for me.
“The second [title in 2014] was just like: ‘I made the right decision and I proved everyone wrong. Great, so I can sleep.’
“But then the next one felt like: ‘OK, we’re here to stay, this is really [going to mean] something’ – because [three titles is] also what Ayrton [Senna] won.”
