© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says when his friend Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur didn’t reply to his WhatsApp messages, he knew Lewis Hamilton was leaving.
Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari in 2025 came as a surprise to everybody, and admittedly to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff as well.
While talking about Lewis’ move, Toto’s friend Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur said the call to inform Toto that he had signed the Briton was a difficult one.
When asked if Vasseur did a good job with the phone call, Wolff jokingly said he did not.
“No, he didn’t do a good job,” the Austrian said.
“We are friends since a long time and in the same way, we are knowledge that we are competitors on tracks.
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“And so that is a balancing act that is not always easy, because we have the duty and the obligation to perform to the best of our abilities for the interest of our team. And this is what Fred has done in that situation.
“I understand the rationale. Obviously, it’s not always easy in such a good relationship to know how to handle that, but it has no effects or no repercussion on the relationship that I will have with Fred.
“When I sent Fred a WhatsApp two days before he didn’t reply, so I guess I knew.
“But then, no, Fred didn’t tell me, Lewis felt that he wanted to tell me first,” Wolff concluded.
