Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff believes that Lewis Hamilton’s ‘late’ announcement of his departure to Ferrari may have cost him the opportunity to sign Charles Leclerc or Lando Norris. However, the Austrian does not blame the seven-time world champion. “I have thick skin,” Wolff says.
In January, both Ferrari and McLaren announced that Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris, respectively, would be extending their contracts with the teams for several more years. The news of both young drivers was quickly overshadowed in February when Lewis Hamilton announced his departure to Ferrari.
“I absolutely had it on my radar that Lewis would leave,” Toto Wolff reflects on the moment, in Inside Mercedes F1: Life in the Fast Lane. “I just couldn’t understand why he would switch to another team before we knew if we would be competitive.”
The Mercedes team boss explains how Hamilton’s ‘late’ announcement also deprived him of the chance to bring over a driver from a rival team. “It also didn’t give me time to react,” the Austrian continues. “I had to urgently call our partners and possibly missed the chance to negotiate with other drivers who had signed a contract a few weeks earlier, like Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris.”
Thick Skin
According to Wolff, Hamilton’s decision to leave Mercedes also came with a commercial impact. However, the team boss doesn’t blame the driver. “We’ve had such a successful journey together and now we have our own objectives. This hasn’t changed the situation for me. I have thick skin, you know. I’ve had some tough moments in my life and this doesn’t compare,” Wolff concludes.
