Toto Wolff addresses a potential "breakdown of trust" with Lewis Hamilton for going behind his back and negotiating with Ferrari
Toto Wolff recently touched upon Lewis Hamilton's switch to Ferrari and whether the move affected the relationship between himself and the driver. The Mercedes boss was not made aware of the move by the driver but instead came to know about it through paddock chatter. Addressing the move in a recent interview, Wolff was asked if there had been a "breakdown of trust." The Mercedes team principal replied in the negative.
Hamilton signed a multi-year contract with the Maranello-based team earlier this year. The seven-time world champion made the jump even though he had one year left on his contract with Mercedes. His switch raised eyebrows and sent ripples across the F1 fraternity.
Toto Wolff later shared that he received the news from Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz's father, Carlos Sainz Sr. The latter informed Wolff about rumors circulating in the paddock.
Asked whether there had been a breakdown in trust between the two due to Hamilton negotiating with Ferrari, Wolff said (via ESPN),
"I think when you need to set a standard for yourself and I think it was such a difficult situation for him, because our team wasn't doing as good as we expected from ourselves, and I think the opportunity came up quickly over the winter and [...] he probably didn't have enough time to say, 'well how am I tackling this with Toto or with Mercedes.'
"So it's not something I have a grudge at all. If we could replay it in a better way, which... there is no better way because he was under pressure you know in the summer, in the winter, so maybe we would have had conversations" (3:10).
After the conclusion of the 2024 Las Vegas GP, Lewis Hamilton has two more races with Mercedes before he moves to Maranello from Brackley.
Toto Wolff shares his thoughts as Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes part ways
With his move to Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton will break a 12-year-long tie with Mercedes, where he won six out of his seven F1 titles.
With their time together close to being over, Toto Wolff shared his thoughts on Hamilton's move away from Brackley after the free practice sessions of the Las Vegas GP last Friday.
Wolff said,
"There is no overwhelming emotion now that this is ending... [but] the last race together will be quite a thing because we had this wonderful partnership for such a long time. But having said that, Lewis is not going to disappear. Lewis is going to be on the grid next year with a Ferrari. We are not losing the person, we are just losing the driver. But we embark on a new future."
Lewis Hamilton will join Charles Leclerc and his former F2 team boss Fred Vasseur and will replace Williams-bound Carlos Sainz.