Toto Wolff may have felt a twinge of heartbreak when Lewis Hamilton decided to leave him for Ferrari, but he’s still backing the Brit to succeed.
Earlier this year, Hamilton announced he would be waving goodbye to Mercedes in 2025, ending the most successful partnership that Formula 1 has ever seen.
Wolff will soon be saying goodbye to one of his closest friends in F1Getty
Team principal and CEO Wolff has won six drivers’ titles and eight constructors’ championships alongside the 39-year-old, who will soon be leaving him for the most illustrious team in motorsport.
There’s no bitterness from the Austrian, though, who has now commented on doubts about Hamilton’s move.
“I think many people say that it’s going to be really difficult,” he said. “But I think if you say it’s going to be really difficult, then often it’s the opposite.
“Ferrari is a great team, great people, lots of emotion and passion and therefore it’s pressure. But I believe they are going to find a way of working with each other.”
Such doubts arose after Hamilton put together two wins in three races in July, and Mercedes looked back to their best after two years without a victory for their star driver.
However, due to the topsy-turvy nature of the 2024 season, there have been points where Ferrari have been far more dominant, which is reflected in a constructors’ lead over the Silver Arrows, and both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz sitting ahead of their Mercedes rivals in the drivers’ standings.
That’s led to no regrets for Hamilton, who recently commented: “There’s not been a moment where I’ve questioned it, and I’m not swayed by other people’s comments.
“Even today, there’s people continuing to talk s***, and it will continue on for the rest of the year.
“And I’ll have to just do what I did in the previous time. Only you can know what was right for you. And it will be an exciting time for me.”
The omens aren’t all great, though. Numerous champions have tried to replicate the success of the great Michael Schumacher at Ferrari and many have failed.
Hamilton has watched his biggest rivals fail at FerrariGetty
World champions Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso are two of those not to land a title with the Scuderia, with their last success in 2007 thanks to Kimi Raikkonen.
Vettel, on his part, did everything to fit in, even learning Italian which he regularly showed off on team radio, something Schumacher never managed to do.
Hamilton is planning to follow suit, making the transition from silver to red even easier.
“In all these years, I haven’t managed to learn another language, but I’ll try,” he revealed. “When I was a kid racing karts in Italy, I learned a few phrases.”
