Wolff, part 2: “Ferrari? Hamilton will always remember for his titles at Mercedes”

Toto Wolff attends Mundo Deportivo and two other international newspapers in a relaxed chat where he talked about everything, his interest Verstappen and the options you have to sign him for 2025, the possible interest Carlos Sainz if he decides to wait (although apparently he will go to Alpine) and many other topics already published by MD in Part 1 of the interview on Toto Wolff. Now, the time has come to talk exclusively about Lewis Hamilton and the relationship he maintains with Toto after surprising the Austrian and the whole of F1 at the beginning of the year by announcing his signing for Ferrari.

At the Spanish GP he was very angry about an anonymous email sent to many emails criticizing him and saying that Hamilton was being hurt and he was very clear in his position about the comments of some fans. How does something like this affect your relationship with Lewis? How does Lewis relate to the rest of the group?

The team situation is out of this world. It seems like always. If a driver isn’t having a good weekend, he isn’t having a good weekend, and that goes for all drivers. I think this is where the misunderstanding comes from that Lewis is not happy with the level of performance in general, he is not happy in Monaco, so within the team everything is as before. Nothing changed. We talk about everything, we’re transparent and the dynamic is great. I think Lewis has become very self-critical. A lot. I think he made it clear that within the team everything is going well and we support each other, we are teammates. We have been friends for a long time and nothing will change. But, you know, in this polarized world, there will always be idiots. Some Lewis fans who believe in some kind of conspiracy theories and probably can’t tell a Formula One car from a road car and just do a lot of bullshit. I’ve said it before: I have no respect for anyone who hides behind an anonymous Instagram account or email.

He said everything is normal in the team. Is this really what it’s like when someone you’ve been best friends with for a long time leaves? Are you saying that despite this the relationship is exactly the same as it has been for the last 10 years? It seems hard that nothing has changed.

It was a little weird, because I was obviously surprised the moment he told me (that he was going to Ferrari), and I didn’t see it coming. My first reaction was like, ‘OK’, we signed a short-term contract, I can follow the logic, but why now? Why not wait to see how the performance of the car changes in 2024? When I didn’t see it, maybe… it hurt me a little. But since then, if you asked me what the year would look like, I think it would have elements of being a little uncomfortable. But after we introduced the car, we really got into the season and it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. Hamilton contributed a lot to the team’s revival. Team dynamics and spirit are high. And honestly, my motto is ‘play hard, forgive quickly and apologize when you’re wrong’. I stole that motto from somewhere…

Literally five minutes after Lewis told me he was leaving, he said ‘OK, what are we going to do here?’ That doesn’t change how I feel about him as a friend because I’m quick to forgive. And we have a big goal to do well for the team this year. And next year he will leave and we will try to beat Hamilton and show that we beat him on the track. But my personal relationship with him was less affected than one might think, and it wasn’t much affected at this point either.

I think it’s almost like we’re a couple that’s working on it, actively… It’s maybe, how can I say, when you know that you just need to make sure that the relationship works well. I think that’s what we do on both sides.

Do you think this GP will be an emotional moment for him like his last Grand Prix at home with Silverstone? And for you, even if it’s not your home GP?

Well, I spend more time in Brackley and Oxford than I probably do at home. Well, maybe I don’t know that. After home, this is the second place I spend most of my time because my professional life is here. So it’s pretty much been my home for the last 12 years. Will it be emotional in my view? I can’t judge that. I think it will be very emotional for the team and Lewis when it comes to Hamilton’s last race with the team (in Abu Dhabi). Clearly, that won’t be easy. And this will not be his last race at Silverstone. He will run here…

What’s the best thing you’ve seen of Lewis this season? When did you win 6 world championships with Mercedes (you have 7 in total) or these last three difficult years?

The Lewis of the last 2 and a half years has been very good for the team because he did not lose confidence in 2022 and 2023. And his collaboration now at the beginning of 2024 is also very good. This is a Lewis who would not have been able to do what he was doing when he started at Mercedes. He’s older, he’s more mature, he’s seen everything and in terms of the best driving… I look back at the two races in Barcelona and I see good overtakes, good defense, good race pace and a podium. So it’s still there.

Do you regret that Hamilton was not given a better car with the new rules in 2022, because maybe Hamilton would have stayed and finished his F1 career with Mercedes? He always says that he wants to end his career with you.

That’s what I thought, but I don’t regret it. Things happen for a reason, people make decisions for better or worse. It’s the same with me or any other team member. So no regrets. I always look at the opportunities that situations present, even when they seem very bad. I like, not only me, but everyone in the team, we like new challenges. When Nico (Rosberg, after winning the title in 2016) told me he was leaving, it was a big surprise and having Valtteri (Bottas, who came to replace Rosberg) was part of the great success of Lewis’ world titles and the Constructors’ championship for our team because Valtteri is great. So let’s see what opportunity this (Lewis’ departure) gives us. I think it will definitely be exciting.

There is a feeling that it is the end of an era and it is impossible to ignore it because he is a British driver, the most successful British driver of all time in a British team Do you have a feeling or within this team is it the end of an era ? The end of the Hamilton-Mercedes era, which defined his career.

My feeling about this is that this is not the end of his time at Mercedes. He will always be remembered for his 12 years at Mercedes and the six world titles he won there, including the title he then won at McLaren-Mercedes. Michael Schumacher is remembered for his years at Ferrari and not for his years at Mercedes. If Lewis succeeds Ferrari next year, Mercedes remains the longest and most defining story in its history. I don’t see this as a farewell to the Mercedes family because it will always be part of it and part of our legacy and part of our history, something to be proud of. It will not disappear and go to another planet.

Was it just a fond farewell?

And that’s how it happened.

Wolff in Hamilton

“I’m at peace with Lewis’ decision”

In Part 1 of this interview, Toto Wolff already talked about Hamilton and said that, once the 2025 World Championship starts, the novelty will end and everything will focus on the performance of the cars and the drivers, in this time, with Hamilton. wearing red:

Let’s talk about Lewis Hamilton, who is leaving Mercedes at the end of this year for Ferrari. What has changed in the last 11 years of working with you and what has remained the same since the beginning? How do you see Ferrari next year?

“When we both started in 2012 we didn’t know what to expect from each other. He was a world champion, a superstar even then, and I was relatively new to the business, although I wouldn’t say ‘green’ as a professional, because I have 20 years of racing under my belt But over the years, the relationship has grown stronger that Lewis is a trustworthy person, but he has learned to trust and I have given him examples that he And I .also in him. I think we have learned to trust each other, which is an important word: we have done it through the good and the bad. So I am at peace with his decision.

“I understand that our team wasn’t performing that well and that played a big role. Maybe he was skeptical about if we can recover. I understand that sometimes you just need a different environment after so many years… It’s the longest driver-team relationship that exists from what I know he will have an attractive compensation package, which will have some interest when he wears a red suit for the first time and drives a red car, but then is this. It will come down to the performance of the team and the performance of the drivers and it will be the same as before, just wearing a different color,” he added.