How Pep Guardiola helped Toto Wolff deal with losing Lewis Hamilton
F1 News
Toto Wolff revealed that he leaned on some advice given to him by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola when dealing with Lewis Hamilton's sudden notice of his departure. The seven-time World Champion will move to Ferrari for the start of the 2025 Formula 1 season after making the announcement before the 2024 season had even started.
Hamilton and Mercedes had a highly successful relationship. The British driver won six of his World Championships with the German team and helped win every single Constructors' Championship between 2014 and 2021. Hamilton has had three different teammates at Mercedes since he joined in 2013 so driver changes at Mercedes are not common.
How Pep Guardiola helped Toto Wolff
Meanwhile, at a football team like Manchester City, Guardiola has to deal with many players coming and going each season during his tenure as manager. Speaking on the High-Performance Podcast, Wolff reveals he spoke to the Premier League manager about the topic before Hamilton's departure.
"I think if somebody decides to go, then you need to let them go. I had a chat with Pep Guardiola a long time ago and he's a friend. I said, 'What do you do if this or that player leaves?' and he said, 'What do you mean?'," Wolff explained.
"I said, 'Well do you try to convince them to stay?'. He said, 'No, if somebody thinks he can play elsewhere better, or earns more, then you have just got to let them go'. And that is something I embrace in the same way here. If somebody wants to go, then let's make it as good as possible for each of the parties. I had much worse in my life, happening, like real drama and trauma. This is not even moving the needle. It's just a new situation," Wolff added.
For a while, Wolff flirted with Max Verstappen, but the Dutchman would not move to Mercedes for the 2025 season. Instead, Mercedes promoted junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who will team up with George Russell.