Why did Lewis Hamilton leave McLaren in 2012?

Lewis Hamilton left his previous team McLaren in 2012 after winning his world drivers' championship with them in 2008. The Briton left the team to try and breathe new life into his career, which was on the decline in the early 2010s.

Lewis Hamilton is now a household name around the English-speaking world. With seven world championship victories under his belt, the Briton is statistically the most successful driver in the history of the sport. He won his first title in the sport with McLaren in 2008, making him the first black person to win an F1 world championship.

It wasn't all hunky-dory in the McLaren garage after his first title victory. The Briton managed to place a highest of only fourth place in the drivers' standings from 2009 to 2012. The 36-year-old's McLaren faced a lot of mechanical issues during this period and often let him down when it was needed the most.

Though it is not fully clear why the British driver left the team in 2012, many speculate it was due to Hamilton's desire to do less promotional work and 'grow up.' F1 legend Niki Lauda allegedly convinced Hamilton to leave McLaren and join Mercedes. Lauda recalled:

“If [Michael] Schumacher couldn’t get the Mercedes team running up front for three years and you [Lewis Hamilton] next year are doing much better, it makes a huge impact on your personality, and people will rate you much higher. In the end, it convinced him that the challenge is what he wants to do.”

In a recent social media video, Lewis Hamilton, however, claimed he was brought into Mercedes to try and take the team out of the midfield and help them win titles in the future. He said:

“The team weren’t competing at the front at the time. My goal was to come and work with them and help them to eventually win a world championship. And then we won the championship the next year.”

Mercedes won their first constructors' title in 2014 and have never looked back, winning it every subsequent year since then.

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Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have a dominant partnership

Many doubted Lewis Hamilton's move to Mercedes, with former teammate and world champion Jenson Button claiming it "wasn't the right decision" in late 2012. The boy from Stevenage, however, solidified his legacy as one of the greatest of all time with the Brackley-based team, winning six titles in nine years.

With the Briton's help, Mercedes have won the constructors' trophy every year since 2014. This has made them one of the most successful constructors in the sport, despite lacking a rich heritage.

The 36-year-old nearly broke Michael Schumacher's record for the highest number of titles won by a single driver in 2021. He, however, narrowly lost out to Max Verstappen on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December 2021.

With many confident of Lewis Hamilton's return to the sport in 2022, this could be the year when the Briton finally breaks the age-old record and truly becomes the most successful driver in the sport.