Lewis Hamilton’s energy drink sponsors end partnership with Mercedes, to collaborate with rival F1 team instead

Monster Energy, who sponsored Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes for several years, have ended their partnership with the Silver Arrows. The energy drink giant will be sponsoring Hamilton's former team, McLaren, for the 2024 F1 season.

Speaking about the new team sponsorship, McLaren CEO Zak Brown said (via Sports Illustrated):

“We are delighted to join forces with the iconic Monster Energy brand from next season onwards. Monster focuses on celebrating athletes through bold ideas and creating awesome content, so we can’t wait to explore ideas and find new ways to engage and entertain our fans.”

The co-CEO and Chairman of Monster Energy, Rodney Sacks, also expressed delight at partnering with the orange British F1 team. He said:

“Monster Energy is proud to start this new chapter in its F1 journey with McLaren Racing. Monster is focused on enhancing fan experiences and partnering with a world-class team and its elite drivers to share our passion with F1’s global audience. We are planning some really exciting programs with Lando and Oscar and are excited to go racing together from 2024.”

While Monster are ending their partnership with Mercedes, it is worth mentioning that they will continue to sponsor Mercedes' driver Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion has been with the energy drink giant since 2017, and will continue to work with them.

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F1 pundit feels Lewis Hamilton was not excited to race at the 2023 F1 Abu Dhabi GP

F1 expert Mark Hughes recently dissected how Lewis Hamilton raced at the 2023 F1 Abu Dhabi GP. Hughes felt that Hamilton was not up for a challenging race.

He first talked about how the Mercedes driver was struggling to find the right tire temperature, similar to Carlos Sainz.

"Yeah it was big [performance gap]. There was an element of the...like we talked about Sainz, you are just not getting past that threshold and not having the confidence in the car because it has not got the grip, which in turn means you haven't got the tire temperatures. There was a bit of that going on," he said on the Race F1 podcast.

Hughes then claimed that Lewis Hamilton looked beaten down after a tough season.

"But I didn't get the feeling from Lewis this weekend that he was really up for it. I think, had the car been quick, yes, that would have switched him one, but I think after the season they have had, that he has had, its just gives the impression of being worn down," he added.

Lewis Hamilton now has not won a single race for more than two seasons in a row. He ended the 2023 season at the third place in the drivers' championship, scoring 234 points.