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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has expressed his surprise at Lewis Hamilton’s decision to leave the team for Ferrari at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season, revealing his shock at the timing of the announcement. Despite having anticipated Hamilton’s eventual departure, Wolff admitted that the timing of the switch caught him off guard, particularly as it came before Mercedes could confirm their competitiveness for the future.
Wolff’s surprise at Hamilton’s departure timing
Hamilton, a seven-time F1 world champion who secured six of his titles with Mercedes, will join Ferrari in 2025 after confirming his departure from the Silver Arrows after this season. Wolff revealed that while he had been aware of the possibility of Hamilton leaving, he was taken aback by the timing, which left little room for Mercedes to react or secure alternative drivers.
“I absolutely had it on my radar that Lewis would go,” Wolff said. “I just could not understand why he would change to another team before we knew if we were going to be competitive. It also did not give me any time to react."
Wolff went on to explain that the sudden nature of Hamilton’s exit left him scrambling to address the situation. “I had to emergency call our partners and I possibly missed out on negotiating with other drivers who had signed contracts a few weeks earlier like Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris,” he said.
Mercedes moves forward with Antonelli and Russell
In the aftermath of Hamilton's decision, Mercedes has moved to secure a future partnership with Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli alongside George Russell for the 2025 season. Wolff stressed that the situation, while challenging, ultimately benefits Mercedes in the long term, as it avoids a difficult conversation with the sport’s most iconic driver about his future with the team.
“I like the situation - it helps us because it avoids the moment where we need to tell the sport’s most iconic driver that we want to stop,” Wolff remarked.
Wolff talks Athlete "Shelf Life" and future planning
In a candid discussion about the longevity of athletes, Wolff also addressed his rationale for not offering Hamilton a long-term contract. “There’s a reason why we only signed a one-plus-one-year contract,” Wolff explained. “We’re in a sport where cognitive sharpness is extremely important, and I believe everyone has a shelf life. So I need to look at the next generation.”
Wolff likened his approach to that of football managers like Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola, who have always been proactive in managing their teams’ transitions by bringing in young talent to complement or replace ageing stars. “It’s the same in football. Managers like Sir Alex Ferguson or Pep Guardiola anticipated it in their performance of their top stars and brought in junior players that drove the team for the next years.”
Hamilton’s challenging season
Hamilton is currently enduring one of his toughest seasons in F1, sitting seventh in the drivers' standings, two points behind teammate George Russell in sixth.
As the season heads into the final stretch, including the upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 23, Hamilton’s move to Ferrari could be seen as a fresh start after what has been a difficult year for the Mercedes driver.
