TOTO WOLFF felt like he has been “punched in the nose” after Lewis Hamilton dropped the bombshell he was quitting Mercedes to join Ferrari.
Mercedes boss Wolff says he had heard rumours of Hamilton’s defection for the 2025 season but did not want to believe them.
And revealed he only discovered Hamilton was off after the Brit told him over breakfast on Wednesday.
Wolff says it is at a loss to understand what has convinced the 39-year-old to jump ship after only agreeing a two-year deal last summer.
Wolff said: “What happened is that we got together for coffee at my place in Oxford when he was returning to the factory and he said to me that he had decided to race for Ferrari in 2025.”
Wolff added: “The surprise was that I’d heard the rumours a couple of days earlier but wanted to wait for the breakfast we had planned.
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“It was Wednesday morning and this is when he broke the news…once he said this is what I wanted to do, I didn’t try to convince him otherwise.”
Hamilton and Wolff have struck up a great friendship during their 11 years at Mercedes but admits he was stunned to discover his star driver is off to their rivals.
The move is particularly upsetting given that Wolff is also chums with Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur who has persuaded Hamilton to change teams.
Wolff added: “I have great respect for Fred, not only as a racing manager, but also as a longtime friend.
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“On the relationship. It is a tough competition, a cutthroat environment and as much as I try to do the best for our group, he will do that for Ferrari.
“It’s a little bit like rugby. We punch each other in the nose, but we are able to get off the pitch and have a respectful relationship.”
Hamilton only agreed a two-year deal last summer and Wolff says his discussions with the Brit over the winter were only focussed on Mercedes.
And the Austrian says he is at a loss to understand what has caused Hamilton to change his mind.
He said: “I cannot tell you exactly [what caused Hamilton to change]. I only know that we were very aligned when we went into the Christmas period.
“We’ve said that in public and in the team. You need to ask Lewis why he changed his mind.
“How he framed it to me was that he needed a new challenge and that he was looking for a different environment and it was maybe the last possibility to do something else.
“We totally respect that. You can change your mind and switch to Ferrari maybe for the last gig in his career, maybe rolling the dice a bit.”
Wolff will now turn his attention to picking Hamilton’s replacement to drive alongside George Russell.
With Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris both signing new long-term deals at Ferrari and McLaren respectively, he admits his options are more-limited.
He added: “Some drivers will be coming available, others just signed a few weeks ago, so these would have been opportunities six weeks earlier.
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“But it is what it is. In 2025 and beyond the driver market is very interesting and we need to look out to the future.
“Who is it that we can partner with George? What’s the best combination? There’s a variety of options and I want to take my time.”
WHO COULD REPLACE HAMILTON AT MERCEDES?
Mercedes will have a vacant seat for 2025.
Here, SunSport’s F1 correspondent Ben Hunt looks at FIVE potential candidates who could replace him and partner George Russell in the Silver Arrows.
Oscar Piastri – McLaren have sewn up Lando Norris to a new long-term contract that should (in theory) put him out of Mercedes’ reach. However, they are yet to tie down his teammate Piastri, 22. The Aussie has an excellent record and won the Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles before spending a year on the sidelines with Alpine and getting his chance in F1 with McLaren. He impressed on his debut season last year and has the potential to be a world champion.
Daniel Ricciardo – The experienced driver’s future remains in doubt as he bides his time at Red Bull’s B-team. Ricciardo would be low-hassle and offer some stability but by that time he would be 35. It seems unlikely that they would opt for him at this point in his career, but if he has a good season this year, he could come into the reckoning.
Kimi Antonelli – You may not have heard of the Italian, but he is mustard. Still only 17, he has won at all the junior categories and has been part of the Mercedes young driver programme since 2019. This season he has been promoted from F4 to F2, where he has been tipped to shine. A good debut season in F2 could sway Mercedes into taking a risk on him for 2025. Antonelli and his family are close to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Mick Schumacher – Wolff has always been so incredibly supportive of Schumacher and spoken highly of him, that you’d at least expect him to come into consideration. He knows the team from his role as reserve driver and consequently would get up to speed. But speed is also the problem. He was shocking at Haas and if he really was THAT good, he’d still be driving in F1.
Alex Albon – A more-sensible choice would be the London-born Albon. A great guy who is also very quick. He has a fantastic relationship with Russell and would be the low-maintenance quick partnership similar to Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas that swept to successive titles. Albon would take little convincing to join from Williams and Mercedes would not need to pay him half of the £50million they were dishing out to Hamilton.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
