F1 News: Toto Wolff Reveals Surprising Influence in Hamilton’s Ferrari Move

Saajan Jogia | Nov 10, 2024

Toto Wolff 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, Sunday - Sebastian Kawka / Mercedes Press Image

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted that advice from Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola prevented him from holding back Lewis Hamilton after he revealed his decision to join Ferrari next year.

Hamilton broke the shocking news of his Ferrari signing on February 1, a day after revealing the decision to Wolff at his UK residence. While Wolff revealed that he had anticipated the seven-time world champion's move two weeks in advance when Carlos Sainz Sr. broke the news to him,
Guardiola's words stopped Wolff from persuading Hamilton to stay.

Wolff and Hamilton share a friendly relationship, as the pair celebrated six drivers' titles during the British driver's 11-year tenure with Mercedes. In the quest for his eighth world title, Hamilton exercised a break clause in the two-year contract he signed with the Brackley outfit in 2023.
Revealing Guardiola's advice, Wolff stated on the High Performance podcast, as quoted by RacingNews365:

"I think if someone decides to go, then you need to let them go.

"I had a chat with Pep Guardiola a long time ago, he is a friend. 

"I said: 'What do you do if this or that player leaves?' and he said: 'What do you mean?', I said: 'Well, do you try and convince them to stay?'

"'No, if somebody thinks he can play better elsewhere or earn more, you've just got to let them go.'

"It is something I embrace in the same way here, if somebody wants to go, then lets make it as good as possible for each of the parties, so it then becomes about what happens next."

Wolff recently admitted that he had decided within 5 minutes of knowing Hamilton's decision, that his replacement would be F2 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli. However, he had to ensure his instinct was the right choice for Mercedes. Elaborating on the steps that followed to sign the young Italian driver, Wolff said:

"There's an instinctive, internal response that I had with myself, and that was the opportunity for Kimi.

"On the other side, there was an F2 season to go, lots of testing for Kimi, so you have to stand back and stay: 'Hold, on a minute, that is your instinctive reaction.'

"It is what is probably going to happen, but there could be breaking points where you should be rationally and logically acting and picking the brains of all the good people I work with at Mercedes. 

"I spoke with Markus [Schäfer, Mercedes-Benz board member] at Mercedes and Stuttgart and picking their brains is important before coming to a final conclusion.

"The decision was made with Ola [Kallenius, Mercedes-Benz CEO], Gwen [Lagrue] who runs our junior programme, [technical director] James Allison and [communications director] Bradley Lord just to confirm my first initial instinct."