Everything to win again

If you want something, it will cost you money. This means that sometimes the price you have to pay is very high, especially when it comes to becoming a world champion again. Even relationships that last more than ten years are not immune from inevitable divorce. You can see it coming, but in the case of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, the news was a real earthquake for Formula 1. Previously, this rumor was repeated before the start of each season, but in 2024 the river began to sound louder than ever, and a bombshell eventually emerged: the Briton would say goodbye to his brand at the end of this season. welcome the new challenge, Ferrari, with a multi-year contract. And perhaps this will be the last motivation for the pilot, who turned 39 years old in January of this year. Although, to break records and talk about age… there is no better example than that of Fernando Alonso.

One thing is clear: his new journey to Scuderia (starting in 2025) will be the last opportunity that Hamilton will have to become world champion again. The Englishman wants to achieve that eighth title he touched in 2021. but this was taken away from him in the last round of the World Championship that year. Max Verstappen was crowned for the first time, and for Sir Lewis The blow was as big as anything that followed with Mercedes unsure how to adapt to the rule change that came in 2022. Seeing how Red Bull dominated without an opponent and, despite a year of contract, left with Mercedes. in 2025, Hamilton gets up and leaves the ship he arrived on 17 years ago. (he was already running for McLaren with the star engine) and in which he won seven titles, 103 victories and 104 pole positions. Life with a silver arrow that will end in 2024. Everything to win again.

But Lewis Hamilton’s decision is just another in a series of decisions made in recent months. And they all caused earthquakes in their competitions. They are all champions who have decided to look for a way out, a winning project that will give them the tools and motivation they need to fight for the crown again. Jonathan Rea opened the season first: After nine years of collaboration and success with Kawasaki, the Northern Irishman said goodbye to green to wear blue, along with Yamaha, who also said goodbye to their champion, Toprak Razgatlioglu, which was heading to BMW. Ri won all of his WorldSBK titles with the Japanese brand. There were six, and he remained the most successful Superbike rider of all time, with over 100 wins in nearly a decade that ended a year earlier than his contract stated. The same as Hamilton, and the same as the next main character: Marc Marquez.

Just a month after Jonathan Rea’s announcement, Another strong earthquake occurred at the MotoGP World Championship. Although there were rumors before the summer, Marc Marquez and Honda announced that they would go their separate ways at the end of 2023. That is, also a year before, which was marked by the historic contract that the man from Ilerda concluded. signed in 2020 ahead of a season that would change his life forever. A four-year extension was suddenly signed, which many called crazy. Their relationship seemed unbreakable, but since Marquez was already physically recovered, he had to try his luck outside of his life. to see if fighting for a ninth title is a possibility after three years of injury. The Gresini Racing team, already presented in new colours, with Ducati in hand, is behind eleven years of collaboration with HRC, during which together they won six MotoGP World Championships, five Triple Crowns, 59 wins, 101 podiums and 64 pole positions, which have already been conquered. They are part of the history of the World Cup. But in these cases, the head is more important than the heart, and three champions of their stature can think of nothing but victory. Or, in this case, win again.