F1 – Hamilton: Guardiola involved in the transfer of the century, the crazy announcement!

Considered the transfer of the century in Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton’s move from Mercedes to Ferrari shook up the paddock and placed Toto Wolff in a delicate position as he searched for his replacement. And in order to make the best choice, the boss of Mercedes F1 took advice from a certain Pep Guardiola who quickly felt that it was not necessary to keep an athlete who had decided to leave.

Last January, before the 2024 season even started, Lewis Hamilton announced that it would be his last at the wheel of a Mercedes. A small event since he won 6 of his 7 titles with a single-seater from the German brand, but above all, the seven-time world champion has always been powered by a block Mercedeseven when he was at McLaren. Consequently, a 17-year association comes to an end. Lewis Hamilton will actually be a driver Ferrari next season. And in order to best prepare for this departure, Toto Wolff admits that he was able to rely on the valuable advice of Pep Guardiola.

“I had a discussion with Pep Guardiola a long time ago”

« I think if someone decides to leave, they should be let go. That’s what I was advised to do anyway. I had a chat with Pep Guardiola a long time ago, he’s a friend. I said to him: “What do you do if this or that player leaves?” and he said, “What do you mean?” I said, “Well, are you trying to convince him to stay?” And according to him “No, if someone thinks they can play better elsewhere or earn more, you should just let them go”. It’s something I accept the same way in F1, if someone wants to leave then let’s make it as good as possible for both parties, then it’s about knowing what happens Next », says the boss of Mercedes F1 in comments reported by Nextgen-auto.com. Finally, it is the very young Kimi Antonelli who will replace Lewis Hamilton. A carefully considered choice.

“If someone wants to leave, then let’s make it as good as possible for both parties.”

« There was an instinctive, internal response that I had with myself, and that was Kimi’s opportunity. On the other hand, there was an F2 season coming up, a lot of testing for Kimi, so you have to step back and calm down: ‘Wait a minute, that’s your knee-jerk reaction.’ That’s what’s probably going to happen, but there could be breaking points where you have to act rationally and logically and call on the brains of all the good people I work with at Mercedes. I spoke with Markus [Schäfer, membre du conseil d’administration de Mercedes-Benz] and Stuttgart and it is important to ask their opinion before drawing a final conclusion. The decision was made with Ola [Kallenius, PDG de Mercedes-Benz]Gwen [Lagrue] who runs our junior program, James Allison [directeur technique] et Bradley Lord [directeur de la communication]just to confirm my first instinct », added Toto Wolff.