Toto Wolff Opens Up On Impact Of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes Exit - 'A New Era'

Toto Wolff reflects on the impact of Lewis Hamilton's upcoming exit from Mercedes.

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff / Mercedes Press Image

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton is set to leave Mercedes at the end of the year as he moves to Ferrari from 2025. Throughout his tenure with the Brackley-based squad, Hamilton clinched six drivers' titles and played a crucial role in the team securing eight constructors' championships. As Hamilton prepares to race in his final 10 Grands Prix with Mercedes in the 2024 season, the spotlight turns to team principal Toto Wolff who faces the daunting task of steering the team into a post-Hamilton era.

During an interview with Formula.hu, Wolff commented, as quoted by GP Blog:

"Lewis is not just a driver, he's an icon - on multiple levels. It's clear for us that Mercedes' team and the sport gets more media coverage just because of Lewis."

Despite encountering a challenging phase without victories from the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix up to his recent wins at the British and Belgian Grands Prix in 2024— the latter a victory claimed after the disqualification of his teammate George Russell—Hamilton's capability to triumph under pressure remains undiminished.

Wolff continued:

"A new era will start for Mercedes. I don't know yet, who will be the next era's important drivers, and I also can't tell, whether we will as successful as we hope to be."

Speaking ahead of the F1 summer break, Hamilton commented, as quoted by Planet F1:

“I’m very fortunate to have been a part of Mercedes for this, you know, this last 18 years.

“Actually more than that, 20 plus years, because they started supporting me when I was 13.

“So, but obviously every Grand Prix win that I’ve had, the 104 has been with Mercedes, powered by Mercedes, and something that I will always be grateful to have been a part of.”

The British driver also commented on the reasons behind his Ferrari move. He stated just after the announcement, as quoted by Independent:

“It (the decision) happened very fast.

“The opportunity just popped up and I was like ‘Ok I’ve got to think for a second’ and I didn’t have a lot of time to think, I just had to go with my gut feeling and I decided to take the opportunity.

“I didn’t speak to anybody, I didn’t tell my parents until the day of it being announced, so no one knew and I really wanted to do it for myself and that’s ultimately...I had to find out what was best for me.

“The thing is I will always be a Mercedes fan and we’ll always have this incredible history together, even now, after all these years I genuinely always check where McLaren are and I’m always supporting them and that will always be the case for me here also.”