Deciding even before the first race of this season to leave Mercedes for Ferrari, Christian Horner says Lewis Hamilton has “obviously seen things” that led to his decision.

Hamilton shocked the motorsport world back in February when he announced even before the first lap in a 2024 F1 car that it would be his final season with Mercedes.

Christian Horner claims Lewis Hamilton is ‘jumping at the right time

Exercising an escape clause in his contract, Hamilton instead signed a multi-year deal to partner Charles Leclerc at Ferrari.

Red Bull team boss Horner responded to Hamilton news by saying: “He’s obviously seen something there that he believes in that serves him better than staying where he is. I think for F1, a Lewis-Ferrari tie-up is really exciting.”

However, Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff was quick to debunk the idea that Hamilton had run to Ferrari after testing the W15 in the simulator.

Asked two days after being informed of Hamilton’s decision if he had driven the W15 in the sim yet, Wolff told the media including PlanetF1.com: “Today.”

Mercedes have since gone on to record a better season than the previous two years with the Briton winning two Grands Prix – Silverstone and Spa, his first wins since his 2021 title fight against Max Verstappen.

Overall though it has been a mixed season for the Brackley squad as steps forward have been followed by confusion steps backwards.

Horner reckons Hamilton is “jumping” at the right time.

“It will be very interesting to see how Lewis acclimatises to life at Ferrari,” he told TalkSPORT. “He’s obviously coming out of a very comfortable environment, one that he knows very well over the last 10 years, or more than 10 years. So that’ll be a change for him.

“Charles Leclerc is another very fast driver. But you know, Ferrari is a team that looks like they’re picking momentum up, so for sure a driver of Lewis’s quality is always going to be a challenger.

“And I think, Ferrari, he could be just jumping at the right time.

“I think he’s obviously seen things that he’s chosen to change teams for because he believes in the future of Ferrari, so that’s going to be fascinating to see how that plays out.”

Hamilton has previously called his swap to Ferrari the realisation of a boyhood dream having watched Michael Schumacher dominate Formula 1 with Ferrari.

He says it was just the right time him to make the move.

“I feel like… it was obviously the hardest decision that I think I’ve ever had to make,” he said weeks after the announcement.

“Obviously I’ve been with Mercedes for, I think it’s like 26 years they’ve supported me, and we’ve had an absolutely incredible journey together.

“We’ve created history within the sport, and it’s something I take a lot of pride in and I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved.

“But I think ultimately I’m writing my story and I felt like it was time to start a new chapter.”

Mercedes have three wins in total this season but sit a distant fourth in the Constructors’ Championship whereas Ferrari have five wins and could yet beat McLaren to the teams’ trophy.

The Scuderia are 36 points off the pace with 147 points still in play. Red Bull are a further 13 points back.