F1 News
Has Toto Wolff's relationship with Hamilton changed because of Ferrari?
One of the biggest shocks in the world of Formula One happened during the winter: It was announced that Lewis Hamilton will be joining Ferrari from 2025 onwards. Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff now explained how he feels about the British driver and what happened when the transfer was announced back.
In 2023, it was announced that Lewis Hamilton has signed an extension with Mercedes, which turned out to be a one-plus-one-year deal at the Silver Arrows. Ahead of the 2024 season, the Briton decided to leave the German team and switch for Ferrari. Mercedes' team principal, Toto Wolff, said he understands the seven-time world champion's decision. "The personal relationship doesn’t suffer. If I put myself in his shoes, I can understand that the team wasn’t doing very well, you are in your last phase of your career, everybody wants to wear a red overall with a yellow prancing horse, probably the financial terms were also very positive," the Austrian explained to Martin Brundle on Sky Sports.
Since the new regulation changes were introduced in 2022, Mercedes have only won a single Grand Prix, and Hamilton remains winless since 2021. Now, the Briton will once again work together with his team principal from his days in GP2 and other junior categories, Frederic Vasseur.
The Austrian also underlined that his friendship with Hamilton remains to be the same. "When we signed a very short term contract it was clear that that could happen. I have my absolute piece with him and my relationship goes much deeper. In 12 years we’ve been friends and allies and brothers in crime and he is going to be competitive in the car, but we haven’t divorced as friends."
What caused headaches for Wolff?
Rumours started to begin that Hamilton could sign with Ferrari, and that was not the easiest thing to deal with for the CEO. "What was bruising is that I didn’t have any time to react. It was basically the same day and when I said 'okay, how are we announcing this, this beginning of the season or mid season...’, it was clear that it was leaking from Ferrari. And it was happening to fall on the day of earnings," Wolff said.
Losing an experienced driver like Hamilton can hurt a team financially, as the seven-time world champion and his well-established brand are important assets that people are willing to invest in.
"That didn’t give me enough time to really to do some stakeholder management, call our sponsors, the shareholders and explain what was happening," the Austrian explained the financial side of the transfer.