Wolff avoids Vettel question
“Bomb of the century” catches Mercedes unprepared
February 2, 2024, 10:20 p.m
The sensational move from Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari is causing an earthquake in Formula 1. Last but not least, his current team Mercedes is suddenly under enormous pressure. Team boss Toto Wolff reveals that he was surprised by the timing of the decision.
Actually, only a casual exchange was planned, said Toto Wolff. But then Lewis Hamilton let the cat out of the bag at Wolff’s house in Oxford. “He said that he needs a change and that he will drive for Ferrari in 2025,” said the Mercedes motorsport boss on Friday in an outwardly calm manner, which was sometimes described in the international media as a “lightning strike” (“Il Messagero”) or alternatively as a “bomb of the century” (“Marca”) or “the most gigantic of all shocks” (“The Independent”).
Wolff admitted that he didn’t even try to change Hamilton’s mind. “When you make a decision as an adult, it’s made and you have to acknowledge it.” He still had to take a sip of water after Hamilton’s farewell words.
The most successful driver in Formula 1 history is moving to the historically most successful team. A message that ended the hibernation in the premier motorsport class in one fell swoop. Wolff, however, approached the situation pragmatically as usual: “The event itself didn’t surprise me that much, but the timing did.” This is quite unusual, especially since Ferrari couldn’t do anything against Red Bull last season, nor did Mercedes. And: The 39-year-old Hamilton has not yet driven the silver car for 2024 on the track. So a trip into the blue – or rather: red?
“We are big boys. We can accept that”
Over the past two years, Wolff had repeatedly described the Silver Arrow as “undrivable”. Mostly when his favorite student Hamilton fought against Max Verstappen with blunt weapons. The fear that Hamilton might give up and resign was always there. But a team change? The record world champion never tired of expressing his solidarity with Mercedes. Hamilton confirmed last year that he sees himself with the brand with the star until his “last days in motorsport”. Now the turnaround, made possible by a contract until 2025 with an exit clause for both parties.
“We are big boys. We can accept that he has changed his mind,” commented Wolff: “We had an incredible journey together, we want to end it on a high in 2024.” Hamilton will be no less involved in the processes, emphasized Wolff. The goal is to return to the top of Formula 1, where drivers and teams reigned unchallenged between 2014 and 2020. Hamilton probably didn’t really believe that anymore, despite 82 victories for the factory team – the last one was over two years ago. “What wasn’t so visible to him in the last few months was the steam in the team, the enthusiasm. It’s always moving forward, always moving forward,” explained Wolff combatively on Friday.
“I don’t want to pursue romantic thoughts”
But Ferrari also has good arguments. Team boss Fred Vasseur is Hamilton’s foster father from his time in the foundation of Formula 1, the Scuderia allegedly pays the megastar up to 70 million euros per year, the development curve recently looked a bit steeper than that of Mercedes – and Ferrari are already tempted kill others. “Every racing driver dreams of wearing red overalls and driving the red car,” admits Wolff.
The 52-year-old is now required to prepare his team for the future. For 2025, but also for 2026, when new regulations come into effect that could shake up the balance of power. Hamilton’s teammate George Russell has “the potential to lead the team,” emphasized Wolff. When looking for Hamilton’s successor, he “didn’t want to exclude anyone at any time”; he had already seen too much in Formula 1 for that. Wolff poetically avoided the question of an attempt to persuade four-time champion Sebastian Vettel to make a comeback or to promote Mick Schumacher from reserve driver to regular driver from 2025: “I don’t want to pursue any romantic thoughts.” It is still too early for concrete names.