Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff claimed that there were no bad feelings or betrayal as seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton decided to move to Ferrari in 2025.
The British driver shocked the motorsport world in early February when he decided to activate his release clause from the German team to join the Scarlet team on a multi-year deal and partner alongside Charles Leclerc.
The move was even more surprising as Hamilton had signed a new contract with the Brackley-based outfit in August 2023.
In the months leading up to the move, the details regarding the contract have surfaced to the public.
Speaking with BBC, the Mercedes team boss mentioned that he had ‘no bad feelings’ for offering a 1+1 deal to Lewis Hamilton in 2023 after the latter chose a more favorable 2+1 contract at Ferrari. He said:
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“No. We decided as a team that and we were always very transparent with Lewis the good thing with him is he is able to put himself in your position and understood where we were coming from. So in that respect, there are no bad feelings, and there is no betrayal. It was also for the good of him to change.
“This was the longest run between a driver and a team. It was 12 years overall. And maybe he needed to, in a way, change and reinvent himself. Being a driver for Ferrari is super-prestigious. Maybe for us as a team also it is important to emancipate ourselves and go in a different direction.” he added.
Lewis Hamilton speaks about the support from Tifosi ahead of the Italian GP
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton stated that the support he received from the Tifosi, ahead of the 2024 Italian GP, has been different from the past.
In the pre-race press conference, the 39-year-old said he got an early taste of the adulation he might receive next year.
“I’m not going to lie it definitely does feel a little bit different. I mean it always feels special when you come here. But as Charles was saying there’s always such incredible passion with throughout Italy just in the culture in general but particularly about racing and It’s always exciting just to see the fans that we’re going to see throughout the weekend,” said Hamilton.
The seven-time world champion further informed that heading into the Monza track on Thursday, he saw an ‘amazing picture’ of him, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur, and Charles Leclerc together.
Lewis Hamilton would hope to reward the Tifosi with a good performance on the track this weekend and possibly fight for higher positions, something he was unable to do in Zandvoort as he started the Dutch GP at P14 and finished at P8.
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Edited by Hitesh Nigam
