F1 News

McLaren driver exit revealed in SHOCK email

Sam Cook Tuesday 21 January 2025 23:00

McLaren driver exit revealed in SHOCK email

Lewis Hamilton's shock exit from McLaren was revealed via email, a former team insider has claimed.

Having made his debut in the sport with the team, Hamilton spent six seasons as a McLaren driver between 2007 and 2012.

During that time, he secured the first of his world championship titles, edging Felipe Massa after a wet 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Four seasons without further title success followed, however, and ahead of the 2013 campaign, the Brit made a shock move to Mercedes.

Lewis Hamilton spent six seasons as a McLaren driver

Lewis Hamilton's shocking McLaren exit

Whilst Hamilton had not won further championships, he had won races regularly at McLaren, but had now decided to make the move to a team that finished fifth in the constructors' standings the previous season.

What a move it turned out to be, however, with the Brit going on to secure six drivers' championships and eight constructors' titles in 12 seasons with the team before his exit for Ferrari this year.

However, ahead of the switch he had to tell his former bosses, and now, Matt Whyman, author of Inside Mercedes F1: Life in the Fast Lane has revealed the bizarre way in which Hamilton told Ron Dennis about the news.

At the time, Dennis was McLaren's owner and chairman and was known to be one of the toughest people to deal with in the F1 paddock.

"When he left McLaren as a much younger driver, he bottled doing it face to face and he was overseas somewhere and he just did it by email and he felt bad about it," Whyman revealed on The Fast and the Curious podcast.

"But you know we can all kind of relate to that you know you've got a difficult thing to do and you just think - I'll send an email or just leave it there, please, please let it go to voice message."

Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Ferrari McLaren Brazilian Grand Prix Felipe Massa