Toto Wolff ‘liked’ Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari with ‘1+1’ reasoning revealed

Losing Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari after signing him to a one-year deal with an option for a second, Toto Wolff doesn’t regret the terms of the Briton’s last Mercedes contract as everyone “has a shelf life”.

As things played out, it worked for Wolff as he avoided a future conversation where he might have had to tell the seven-time World Champion that Mercedes want to stop.

Toto Wolff: It helps us because it avoids the moment where…

Hamilton shocked the motorsport world early this year when he announced that 2024 would be his 12th and final season with Mercedes, the team with whom he won six of his seven Drivers’ Championship titles.

The 39-year-old had exercised an exit clause in his latest Mercedes contract, which he had signed just six months before, to leave the Brackley team after year one as year two was an option.

Instead, he’ll race for Ferrari in 2025, partnering Charles Leclerc having signed a multi-year contract with the Scuderia.

At the time questions were raised about whether Mercedes had fumbled the situation given they’d only locked Hamilton into a one-year contract for 2024, leaving the door open for him to leave.

Wolff responded to that, saying: “We’re big boys, we knew that by signing a short-term contract, it could be of benefit for both sides.

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“We couldn’t commit for a longer period, and he’s taken the option to exit. We totally respect that you can change your mind. There’s different circumstances. Switching to Ferrari, maybe for the last gig in his career, maybe rolling the dice a bit. I can follow that decision.”

However, in a new book released on Thursday, ‘Inside Mercedes F1: Life in the Fast Lane’, he’s shared more details about why Mercedes were only willing to give Hamilton one confirmed season. And the Briton’s age played a role in that.

“There’s a reason why we only signed a one-plus-one-year contract,” Wolff explained.

“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 football. Managers like Sir Alex Ferguson or 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.”

In fact, in an interview in the book dated February 7, Wolff says Hamilton’s decision to leave meant he potentially avoided what could’ve been an awkward conversation with the Briton in the years to come.

“I like the situation,” said the Austrian. “It helps us because it avoids the moment where we need to tell the sport’s most iconic driver that we want to stop.”

Hamilton has taken 84 of his 105 Grand Prix wins with Mercedes and six of his seven World titles. The Briton has also only ever raced Mercedes power units in Formula 1, first with McLaren and then with Mercedes.

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