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Toto Wolff‘s words about Lewis Hamilton‘s departure from Mercedes, published on a German website, have garnered a lot of negative reactions from fans. The issue might actually be caused by the translation, so here is the full original article.
After we published an article containing quotes from Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, which were first published on a German website Motorsport-Total.com, and were then translated by GPBlog.com, a lot of fans were not pleased with how they perceived his words, and they made their feelings known on social media.
Since the original article was written in German, we decided to publish the entire original article, translated into English, so that the context of the quotes is more clear.
So, with no further ado, here is the translation of the entire Motorsport-Total.com article:
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(Motorsport-Total.com) – Many premier class fans continue to wonder why Lewis Hamilton will leave Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season to move to Ferrari? Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff cannot answer this question with 100% certainty either.
“The driver only has a limited time in Formula 1, and Lewis is now 39,” he reminds us and explains that in this respect he can “understand” that Hamilton might want to once again fulfill “a dream” in his older racing age.
Hamilton wanted to do “something new” again and drive “in red overalls” for once in his career, he believes. But does the Brit have better sporting prospects at Ferrari than at Mercedes? Wolff isn’t so sure about that.
He reminds us that there was “not much” between the two teams in 2023. In fact, Mercedes even finished one place ahead of Scuderia in the World Championship last year. The team from Brackley became runners-up with a three-point lead.
According to Wolff, if Hamilton had switched to Red Bull, it would have been clear “what the drive would have been,“ because the Bulls became world champions in 2023 and won 21 of the 22 races of the season. “This is the best package in the short term,” says Wolff.
Wolff: For Hamilton, “long-term perspective” doesn’t matter
“I also understand the worries of a driver. We all share them,” explains with regard to their own performance, because Mercedes itself has not won a Formula 1 race since the end of 2022. In his opinion, these statistics do not tell the whole story.
“What was perhaps not so [visible], even for him,” says Wolff about Hamilton, was “the steam that is in the team, the forward drive to do things better.” The team boss makes it clear: “The mentality is: ‘If we fall, we get up.'”
“I have no idea how many times we’ll fall. I know we’ll always get up again. We’re [behind] here with the new regulations against Red Bull. And the others aren’t sleeping either,” says Wolff. Nevertheless, things are “always moving forward,” he assures.
“And when we look back in ten or 20 years, there will be many [more] World Championships,” he is sure. “But of course that’s a long-term perspective,” he also knows and admits that it “doesn’t play a role for Lewis.”
Because Hamilton will already be 40 years old at the start of the 2025 season, his first for Ferrari, he doesn’t have forever to win more titles in Formula 1. Perhaps that’s why his move was “not a disappointment” for the team, explains Wolff.
Hamilton farewell “surprise”, but not “disappointment”
“It was a surprise,” is how the team boss describes the reaction of the employees when he informed them about Hamilton’s departure. But they weren’t disappointed because Mercedes had the attitude of “just always looking forward.”
“Forward means: What are we going to do now in 2024 to do the best we can?” reports Wolff and explains that the most frequently asked questions were: “What do we do in [20]25 with the drivers and [20]26? Who is sitting there in the car?”
The outlook for the entire team is “very much focused on the future,” emphasizes Wolff, and explains that they are currently “not very nostalgic” when it comes to Hamilton’s farewell. “There’s always time for nostalgia,” explains the team boss.
“We will look back on these twelve years [together] and say: ‘That is actually unbelievable.’ We won eight teams’ championships [together] and he won six drivers’ championships. That will remain,” the Austrian makes clear.
The goal for the future is now to win more titles, “and that will either be with him this year or with other drivers in the future,” said Wolff.
