Lewis Hamilton’s shock decision to join Ferrari for 2025 was “on my radar,” according to Mercedes Formula One boss Toto Wolff, after the driver only agreed to a one-year extension for this season.
Hamilton, a seven-time F1 world champion, announced in February that he would leave Mercedes after 12 seasons to join Ferrari in 2025.
Hamilton, 39, had signed a new contract with Mercedes the previous summer and had publicly stated that he wanted to see out his F1 career with the team where he had won six of his seven titles. But the Briton opted to trigger an escape clause at the end of the 2024 season when Mercedes only offered him a “one plus one year” deal. The Ferrari contract, starting in 2025, is a multi-year agreement.
The move went down as one of the biggest shocks in recent F1 history and sent the driver market into a tailspin. It paved the way for Williams to snap up Carlos Sainz, who Hamilton will replace at Ferrari, while Mercedes opted to back youth by giving Hamilton’s seat to 18-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
In a new book released on Thursday, “Inside Mercedes F1: Life in the Fast Lane,” Wolff shed fresh light on his reaction to the news, revealing that the terms of Hamilton’s contract meant he was aware the driver could walk away.
“I like the situation,” Wolff said in the book in an interview dated Feb. 7, six days after Hamilton announced his exit. “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 added: “There’s a reason why we only signed a one-plus-one-year contract. 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.
“It’s the same in soccer. Managers like (Manchester United’s) Sir Alex Ferguson or (Manchester City’s) Pep Guardiola. They anticipated it in the performance of their top stars and brought in junior players that drove the team for the next years.”
Wolff said he “absolutely had it on my radar that Lewis would go. I just couldn’t understand why he’d change to another team before we knew if we were going to be competitive.”
Hamilton scored his first F1 win in over two years at the British Grand Prix in July, but has struggled for form toward the end of his time at Mercedes. Recently, he endured a miserable São Paulo Grand Prix weekend, calling it a “disaster” after finishing 10th, and told Sky Sports he “could happily go and take a holiday.”
Mercedes’ dip in form toward the end of the year has coincided with a surge for Ferrari, which has won two of the last three races and is now in contention for the constructors’ championship. In contrast, Mercedes’ 382 points leave them 175 points back of second-place Ferrari with three race weekends remaining. In Brazil, Hamilton admitted he has been “keeping an eye” on Ferrari’s form.
In an episode on the High Performance Podcast that was released on Friday, Wolff expanded on the period leading up to being told personally by Hamilton of his decision, which was delivered in a meeting at Wolff’s house in Oxfordshire, England.
Wolff revealed he “heard the bells ringing two weeks before” after “the old man Sainz,” referring to Sainz’s father, rally legend Carlos Sainz Sr., “called me and said this is what’s happening.
“Then there were a few drivers that rung me up that didn’t before, so I thought, ‘OK, there’s something going on there.’ Then I sent a text for (Ferrari boss) Fred Vasseur saying, ‘You’re taking our driver?’ And didn’t get any response, very unusual for Fred, he’s a good friend. So, yeah. I saw it coming. But then obviously, when Lewis arrived in the house like he did so many years before, we had a bit of small talk like we always do, about Christmas holidays and all of that.
“I said, ‘We’re recruiting from Ferrari now, we’ve got this guy,’ and Lewis was, ‘Ooh, there’s something I need to tell you.’
“When he said that, that initial moment was a little bit of, so this is really happening, I can’t imagine you anywhere else than Mercedes.
“But instantly, it’s, OK, what are we doing with this? There is always opportunity.”
Top photo: SIPA USA
