Toto Wolff: 25% chance Hamilton will sign with Ferrari for 2021 F1 season
F1 News
Toto Wolff believes there's a 25% chance that Lewis Hamilton will leave Mercedes and join Ferrari for the 2021 F1 season. His current contract at Mercedes runs out after the 2020 season and contract negotiations will soon start if they haven't already. After picking up his sixth F1 world championship, the soon-to-be 35-year-old is showing no signs of lifting off.
The Mercedes boss Wolff is confident that the Silver Arrows can retain their number one driver. Hamilton joined the team back in 2013 and as they won their first title together just one year later.
"I would rate [the chances] - and I am leaning out of the window here - at 75%. I give you the number because I think from the rational side everything speaks for continuation of the relationship from both sides. But equally, there is a 25% chance we are not in control of. So we see how the next months pan out," Wolff said in a conversation with the BBC.
"We have talked very openly about Ferrari and what the brand represents. But for me as long as we are able to produce a quick car and a powerful engine, we will always have an opportunity to decide who drives the car. There is no doubt Lewis' priority will be to try to make it work with the team and I will try to make it work with Lewis, but the most important is that we have a good car and then we are able to decide for ourselves."
"We need to stay humble about success and it is not just saying, it is really what I mean. If you look at it from a rational stand-point everything speaks for the fact of us continuing together but there might be other factors, too, a new challenge, an exciting deal that you don't always factor in, but I give this a 25% chance."
Valtteri Bottas' contract also runs out at the end of the 2020 season. In this interview, Wolff didn't offer any insight into the resigning of Bottas.