Wolff warns ‘never write Lewis Hamilton off’ as key trend claimed
Lewis Hamilton has had a rocky start to Ferrari life
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff claims that writing Lewis Hamilton off is something which one should never do.
As Hamilton takes stock of a challenging first Ferrari season so far, Wolff says the Hamilton trend is for him to be “strong” in part two of a campaign.
Can Lewis Hamilton ignite Ferrari career in F1 2025?
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
Thus far, Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari is struggling to live up to the hype. After 14 rounds of F1 2025, Hamilton is yet to add to his record podium tally. Meanwhile, teammate Charles Leclerc has reached the podium five times, and took pole in Hungary, where Hamilton dropped out in Q2 and finished 12th.
Hamilton called time on his historic Mercedes career to join Ferrari, leaving behind the team where he won six of his seven championships, to chase an elusive eighth with the Scuderia.
Speaking with Channel 4 at the Hungarian Grand Prix, it was put to Wolff that maybe Hamilton should not have left Mercedes.
He responded with a clear warning to anyone who believes his former driver is down and out.
“I don’t know. I’ve always said that Lewis, in a good weekend, is still an absolute dominant guy,” Wolff responded.
“He’s also been strong in the second half of the season also. So never write Lewis Hamilton off.”
Hamilton’s brutal self-assessment in Hungary set alarm bells ringing, and was eerily similar to the downbeat outbursts heard at times in his underwhelming final Mercedes season.
After calling himself “useless” and suggesting Ferrari “change driver” following his Q2 exit, Hamilton’s subsequent comments raised some doubts over his Ferrari future.
“I look forward to coming back… Hopefully I will be back, yeah,” he said when asked by the media, including PlanetF1.com, if he will definitely race at the Dutch Grand Prix, the first race back after the summer break.
Wolff felt such comments were simply Hamilton “wearing his heart on his sleeve,” stressing that “he’s the GOAT and he will always be the GOAT.”
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc head-to-head in F1 2025
? F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates
? F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
But, as for whether any retirement thoughts had actually been creeping in for Hamilton, Wolff believes now is not the time to walk away.
F1 2026 represents major opportunity for shifts in the pecking order, as new chassis and engine regulations arrive. Ferrari, like the other 10 teams which will join it on next year’s grid, hopes to be the one to nail the new F1 era.
“Lewis has unfinished business in Formula 1,” Wolff said when speaking to the media, including PlanetF1.com.
“In the same way that Mercedes underperformed over this latest set of regulations since 2022, we never got happy with the ground-effect car, in the same way it [affects] him. Maybe it is linked to driving style.
“He shouldn’t go anywhere next year.
“There are brand new cars which are completely different to drive. New power units that need an intelligent way of managing the energy. So that’s absolutely on for Lewis.
“I hope he stays on for many more years, and certainly next year is going to be an important one.”
Wolff concluded on Hamilton: “But you ask me if he still has it? He definitely has it.”
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