McLaren’s lead driver, world champion Lewis Hamilton, will be moving to Mercedes for 2013, according to the official Mercedes F1 website, mercedes-amg-f1.com.
Hamilton has signed a three-year deal with Mercedes, where he will replace seven time-champion Michael Schumacher as the teammate of Nico Rosberg, who won Mercedes its first F1 win of the modern era at China this spring.
Hamilton started racing with Mercedes-Benz/McLaren in karts in 2000; Mercedes-Benz and McLaren carefully guided his career to ultimately win the 2008 World Drivers’ Championship in 2008, driving a Mercedes-powered McLaren.
“It is now time for me to take on a fresh challenge and I am very excited to begin a new chapter racing for the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team. Mercedes-Benz has such an incredible heritage in motorsport, along with a passion for winning which I share,” Hamilton said on the website.
“Together, we can grow and rise to this new challenge. I believe that I can help steer the Silver Arrows to the top and achieve our joint ambitions of winning the world championships.”
Team Principal Ross Braun said the pairing of Hamilton and Rosberg would be “the most dynamic and exciting pairing on the grid next year.”
“Over the past three years, we have been putting in place the foundations and building blocks that are needed to compete regularly for the world championship. Behind the scenes, we have assembled a team that is technically stronger, more experienced and better resourced, thanks to the support of PETRONAS and all of our loyal team partners.
The potential is now there to match any other team on the grid, which is the minimum standard for a Mercedes-Benz works team. Our task is now to translate that potential into on-track performance for next season and beyond.”
Nothing was said of what plans Michael Schumacher might be making. “I have had three nice years with the team which unfortunately did not go as well as we all would have wanted on the sporting side,” he said.
“I wish Lewis well and for the team to achieve the success we worked so hard for in the build-up. I would like to thank the team for their trust and all the guys for their unconditional commitment. I will now concentrate on the next races.”
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