Toto Wolff admits he was looking out for Lewis Hamilton’s performance along with his Mercedes drivers during the Australian GP
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff shared that he was unknowingly looking out for Lewis Hamilton's performances alongside his Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. The seven-time F1 world champion exited the German team at the end of the 2024 season to bring curtains to his 12-year stint with the Brackley-based outfit.
The 40-year-old won six of his seven Drivers championships with Mercedes and led them to eight consecutive Constructors championships from 2014 to 2021. However, he decided to activate his release clause at the beginning of 2024 and announced his decision to join Ferrari alongside Charles Leclerc.
In his interview with Sky Sports, Toto Wolff, who had a formidable on and off-track dynamic with Lewis Hamilton, admitted that he still found himself looking at the latter's name on the timing charts unknowingly, saying:
"When I was looking at the screens at times, the way I looked at it was like we had three drivers. I was looking at RUS, I was looking at ANT and I was looking at HAM."
Lewis Hamilton left Mercedes to join Ferrari to have a fresh start at a new team after struggling for the last three years with the former world champions.
Mercedes team boss reflects on his drivers' performances in Melbourne
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff stated that he believed that both his drivers, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, did a "great job" at the 2025 Australian GP as they came home in P3 and P4, respectively.
As per F1.com, the Austrian reflected on their performance and said:
"Both drivers did a great job today in very challenging conditions. George drove a superb and controlled race to finish on the podium, whilst Kimi showed a great deal of maturity, in addition to the speed we know he has, to fight through from P16 to P4.
"The team executed the race well and operationally performed strongly. We saw many other drivers fail to make it to the flag, and other teams unable to take advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves, so we can be pleased with our Sunday."
He further added:
"We have clearly taken a step forward over the winter though and we can be encouraged by that. Both drivers have been working well together, the car is responding to their inputs, and it’s a solid platform to build on. We look forward to doing that in China next weekend."
With a combined total of 27 points in the end of the season opener, the German team found themselves level on points with McLaren in the Constructors' championship. But they are classified in P2, as Lando Norris won the race and finished higher than Russell and Antonelli.