During the sprint qualification of the Miami Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton once again failed to achieve the desired result. While the world champion secured the pole position for the shortened race in Shanghai, he will start in Miami on Saturday in seventh place. Hamilton has been down in the dumps as the newest driver for Ferrari, but he can count on support from an unexpected corner. “I strongly believe that Lewis’s magic is still there,” says Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
At eighteen years and eight months, Andrea Kimi Antonelli became the youngest pole-sitter ever on Friday in Miami. The young Italian secured the pole position for the sprint race, not yet for a main race, but he will still go down in history. However, Antonelli would never have achieved this if Lewis Hamilton hadn’t made way for the driver at the end of last season. The seven-time world champion then bid farewell to Mercedes after twelve seasons.
However, the end of the collaboration between Hamilton and Mercedes did not signify the end of their friendship. “Firstly, I want to avoid some headlines. We are still good friends with Lewis. I have traveled a lot with him and I still see him,” Toto Wolff shares in Miami. The Austrian understands Hamilton’s move. “Lewis needed a refresh, he wanted to find himself again. Ferrari is iconic, there’s no doubt about that. He was also offered conditions that were interesting to him.”
For Wolff, the departure of the world champion eventually turned out well. The team boss can now let the young Kimi Antonelli mature for a year at Mercedes, before the regulations change in 2026. “Kimi was already on the starting blocks. He would have gotten a seat this year or next. Now he will know all the circuits (by 2026), even those he has never been to before, and that felt like the right decision.”
Rediscovering the Magic
Apart from a sprint victory during the GP China, Hamilton has so far experienced few highlights in his time at Ferrari. However, Wolff is convinced that his former star driver will soon rediscover his ‘magic’. “It’s not like you have the magic in one race and then suddenly lose the magic in the next. I strongly believe it’s still there,” the team boss continues to support Hamilton. “I’m not entirely surprised that he’s now facing these challenges. He was with us for twelve years. He’s been put in a Ferrari, where his teammate has been for a long time. And his teammate is clearly one of the very best.”
