Toto Wolff was not surprised to see Lewis Hamilton leave Mercedes F1, as he felt the Briton needed a change. On the other hand, he had not anticipated such sudden timing, and the need to have to warn commercial partners, which prevented him from focusing on the succession of the seven-time world champion.
“I absolutely expected Lewis to leave” said Wolff in the book “Inside Mercedes F1: Life in the fast lane”. “I just couldn't understand why he was changing teams before we knew if we were going to be competitive. Plus, I didn't have time to react.”
“I had to urgently call our partners and I may have missed negotiations with other drivers who had signed contracts a few weeks earlier, such as Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris. This put us in difficulty and had a commercial impact.”
“But do I take it personally? It was a business decision. We had such success together and now we have our own goals. For me, that didn't even move the needle. I I have tough skin. I've had some tough times in my life, and this is no comparison.”
The Austrian admits that he appreciated not having to wait for the day when he would have to dismiss Hamilton: “But I like the situation. It helps us because it avoids the moment where we have to tell the most iconic driver in the sport that we want to quit.”
Wolff also explains that he was starting to think about young drivers to replace Hamilton, arguing in passing that he feared that his incumbent would suffer the ravages of time, and that the name of Andrea Kimi Antonelli was obviously on his list from the start of his reflection.
“There's a reason we only signed a one-year contract with an option. We're in a sport where cognitive acuity is extremely important, and I believe everyone has a shelf life limited.”
“So I have to look at the next generation. It's the same thing in football. Managers like Sir Alex Ferguson or Pep Guardiola. They anticipated the performances of their best players and brought in junior players who were the driving force of the team for years to come.”
