Heading into the 2025 season, it’d be understandable if Formula One wasn’t foremost in your mind. The 2024 season finished just before the Michaelmas vac began, and revising for collections (or even procrastinating) probably took precedence over chasing F1 news.

Yet we’ve come off the back of a tumultuous 2024 season, where Red Bull’s dominance fell away, and McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes (when their temperamental car decided to work) could compete at the sharp end. Max Verstappen won his title in his most dominant racing form yet, such as his drive from 17th to the win in the wet in Brazil, against his McLaren rival. Despite sealing his first wins in F1, Lando Norris may view it as a season of missed opportunities, as mistakes threw away his chances at a title bid.

For Lewis Hamilton, 2024 was a bittersweet season. The man who holds seven world championships, 105 wins, 202 podiums and 104 pole positions has not gelled with the current generation of ground-effect cars, and his cornering style, which delivered him great success in the V8 and turbo-hybrid eras of F1, hasn’t worked with the handling characteristics of this era of racing. This has led to a torrid few years for Hamilton, who went winless from his dramatic 2021 season, until an emotional win at home at Silverstone this year.

But beyond the impressive stats and a well-varnished cover lies a driver who’s constantly challenged himself to improve and be better, overcoming adversity.  Unlike several drivers on today’s grid, Hamilton didn’t have great wealth supporting him through his junior career, and when he briefly lost his McLaren backing, his career was in jeopardy. Yet even as a child he showed incredible determination, telling legendary McLaren team principal Ron Dennis, “One day, I want to be racing your cars.”

Hamilton’s influence hasn’t been contained to the sport, however. A celebrity in his own right, he’s used his influence not just to call out prejudices and bigotry, but also to attempt to lead and set an example. Convincing Mercedes to change their car from their historic silver look to black amidst the Black Lives Matter campaign is just one example of how Hamilton has not only used his platform to spread a message, but effected meaningful change. 

His personal motto, ‘Still I Rise’, tells the story of almost winning a championship in his rookie season, finishing the job in his second, and enduring a few middling years with McLaren before making the daring jump to Mercedes—not then the dominant force in F1 it would become. It was ridiculed as a career-ending jump then, but the team’s results ultimately spoke for themselves.

After more than a decade with Mercedes, what does the future hold for the 40-year-old as he makes his historic move to Ferrari for 2025? Having seen off the talents of world champions Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, and more over his long career, I believe Hamilton is a contender for the GOAT title, regardless of the outcome of this season. Ferrari is a team that almost all F1 greats seek to drive for—the Scuderia’s scarlet is just too appealing to refuse. Ascari, Fangio, Lauda, Villeneuve, Prost, Schumacher, Raikkonen, Alonso, Vettel: almost all of F1’s great and good have raced for the Prancing Horses.

Yet of his recent predecessors, Alonso, Vettel and Prost, all failed to win a title in red—will Hamilton’s fate differ? The team is now under the deft leadership of Fred Vasseur, who made the backmarker Alfa Romeo team competitive as Team Principal and has been ironing out the creases in a team that has all too easily thrown title challenges away in recent years. Last year’s Canadian Grand Prix proved that the team is still not perfect. Leclerc was put on dry tyres on a wet track and fought engine issues, while Sainz kamikaze-crashed out. Despite their improvement in 2024, Ferrari were not as consistent as frontrunners McLaren, and Hamilton will face a competitive teammate in Charles Leclerc, while being the second-oldest driver on the grid.

Regardless of what this year offers Hamilton, he can take solace in the fact that he has forever redefined the sport so many love. The inspiration he has given to millions across the world will remain steadfast, regardless of his success at Maranello. He is, indisputably, part of F1’s history, and a British icon.