Nicolas Hamilton has recounted how he was told by his brother Lewis Hamilton about his shock switch to Ferrari for the 2025 season.
The F1 offseason sparked into life this week when bombshell news broke of Hamilton's intentions to quit Mercedes at the end of the year for Ferrari.
Mercedes held an emergency meeting at Brackley before the news was officially announced with Toto Wolff in attendance via zoom.
It was later confirmed that Hamilton was penning a multi-year contract with Ferrari, meaning he will be driving in F1 when the new regulations are introduced in 2026.
Nicolas Hamilton was told of the news over the phone
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The news appeared to come out of nowhere as Hamilton had repeatedly stated his desire to one day retire with Mercedes.
And it even came as a surprise to his brother, who competes in the British Touring Car Championship.
Nicolas was speaking on Instagram Live when he detailed how his brother told him of his upcoming switch to Ferrari.
“So, if anyone doesn’t know, I do public speaking,” he recounted.
“So I was doing a public speech actually for Coke yesterday, Coca-Cola.
“Lewis called me the night before and I was at dinner, so I said: ‘Hey bro, I’ll call you back when I can’ and then I called him later at night and he didn’t pick up and he told me that he was in bed, so I was like ‘ok, no worries.’
“And then he said: ‘Are you around?’ I said: ‘Oh, I’m just heading into work, I’ve got a speech to do.’ I said 'I’ll catch you later tonight because I’ll be free'.
“And he was like: ‘I could really do with speaking to you now.’
"And so, I was like: ‘ok, give me five minutes’ and then he said: ‘Are you in a place where you can talk?’ And I said 'yeah'.
Lewis Hamilton will leave Mercedes at the end of the year
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“But [Lewis said] can you talk without anyone hearing? And I was like yeah'.
“Then he said: ‘So, I’m going to Ferrari in 2025.’ I was like: ‘Woah! Oh my god! Are you joking? That’s crazy!
”Hamilton still has one final year with Mercedes and the 39-year-old insists he remains focused on helping them close the gap to Red Bull.
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Nicolas Hamilton nearly missed the news of his brother
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"I have had an amazing 11 years with this team and I'm so proud of what we have achieved together," he said.
"Mercedes has been part of my life since I was 13 years old. It's a place where I have grown up, so making the decision to leave was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make
."But the time is right for me to take this step and I'm excited to be taking on a new challenge. I will be forever grateful for the incredible support of my Mercedes family, especially Toto for his friendship and leadership and I want to finish on a high together.
"I am 100% committed to delivering the best performance I can this season and making my last year with the Silver Arrows, one to remember."