How Hamilton Ferrari move saved Wolff from having “difficult conversations”

Lewis Hamilton shocked the Formula 1 paddock with his move from Mercedes to Ferrari for the 2025 season. But while the change in teams hasn’t heralded the change in fortunes he may have hoped for, it did mean that Mercedes boss Toto Wolff avoided making a call he “dreaded”.  

Hamilton won the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix, only his second round with the Scuderia, but has since struggled to make his mark and suggested before the summer break that Ferrari should look to replace him.

Having clarified that those comments were ‘not how I feel’, Hamilton showed promise at the Dutch Grand Prix weekend before crashing on lap 23 at Zandvoort.

However, Hamilton’s former boss at Mercedes is reluctant to suggest that the seven-time world champion no longer has “it”. 

“You don’t lose your capability from one day to the other,” the Mercedes boss said.  

“A driver or a sportsperson can compensate a decline of performance in some areas with overperformance in others. Let’s say, your experience can compensate for maybe a lesser speed on a single lap. 

“I’ve seen Alonso, he’s always been able to compensate. So, I believe Lewis, with a car that gives him the confidence and the feedback, can still be very good.”  

Hamilton’s lack of confidence has become an all too familiar sight in recent years, after he struggled to adapt to F1’s ground effect era at Mercedes and is now facing more issues following his switch to Ferrari.  

“He’s had those emotions with us as well,” Wolff added. “I think he had bad moments as well you know, where he felt the strategy went against him. 

“You start to understand an individual better, how they function, and then with him you know – I know him so well, I know how that goes and sometimes I just needed to put my arm around him immediately or give him half an hour to let the steam off and then things would normalise in a way.”

Struggling in a new environment 

In this regard, Wolff believes that it helped Hamilton that he faced his initial struggles with F1’s new era in the Mercedes environment, which felt very familiar to Hamilton.  

“When you’re in your family, you can shout and scream and everybody’s going to know why,” said Wolff. “When you’re in a new environment, you don’t know the others as well, but you still want to shout and scream. So, the dynamic is just unknown – not that it’s better or worse, it’s just unknown and that certainly makes things less easy.”  

Despite the struggles that Hamilton faced since making the switch from Mercedes to Ferrari, Wolff says he still understands the Briton’s move to the Scuderia.  

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Andrea Diodato / NurPhoto via Getty Images

“All the reasons he had to go to Ferrari are still valid today,” Wolff added. “He needed a change of environment, and we needed a change of environment. We weren’t as competitive as we would have wished. Ferrari looked better. 

“Every racing driver wants to race in Ferrari. He likes the colour red anyway. The deal that was on the table was very good,” Wolff added, in reference to the financial aspect of Hamilton’s move to the Scuderia.

“These reasons are still valid today. Now, he’s going against one of the best drivers also, of the younger ones, who’s been in the team for a long time, with a car that drives totally different than ours,” Wolff said, in reference to Hamilton’s struggles to match the pace of team-mate Charles Leclerc both in qualifying and race trim so far this season. 

Hamilton’s current lack in form compared to a much younger driver offers a glimpse into the decisions Mercedes was making behind the scenes where, up until Hamilton’s announcement, Andrea Kimi Antonelli was waiting patiently for a seat.  

“We were prepared to take a risk,” Wolff said. “But you can’t say to a Lewis Hamilton, ‘we’re finishing this’. 

“So, he did it. And that’s how it was meant to be. And that’s the trajectory we’re on today.” 

When pushed further on the call Wolff would have one day had to make with regards to Hamilton’s future at Mercedes, Wolff added: “Very difficult. That would have been a scenario that, for me, from a personal perspective and as Mercedes, would have been something that we would have dreaded to have this conversation.”