Lewis Hamilton stunned the world by announcing his departure from Mercedes to join rivals Ferrari after the 2024 season. Despite signing a new two-year contract extension with Mercedes in August, Hamilton has triggered a release clause, paving the way for his move to Ferrari in 2025. The move would mark the end of a 12-year stay with Mercedes in which he won the driver’s championship a record-equalling seven times.
While Hamilton has been the lead driver for Mercedes for a number of years, team principal Toto Wolff has said that he wouldn’t have to search too far for a new leader, backing Hamilton’s teammate George Russell to step up.
“With all the Lewis discussion, something that has not been talked about enough is George,” Wolff said on Sky Sports. “George has the potential to be the next lead driver in the team. He is of the generation of Lando (Norris) and (Charles) Leclerc and some of the others. I couldn’t wish for a new team leader when Lewis leaves, no doubt about that.”
Wolff further said that he holds no grudge against Hamilton for his decision to join Ferrari. Apart from being with Mercedes’s current iteration of their Formula 1 team since 2013, Hamilton had been associated with the brand since 2007, having started out with the Mercedes-McLaren team.
“He faced a very, very difficult situation, taking a decision of where to drive, maybe for the first time in 10 years without being able to brainstorm with me. Therefore, I will always respect the difficulty of the situation that he faced. In the future, we will discuss whether this could have been done in a different way or not, but I hold no grudge,” said Wolff.
Wolff further said that the team will use the experience they gained in dealing with the retirement of Nico Rosberg in 2016. Rosberg had been seen as the team’s lead driver before Hamilton’s arrival and while the two drivers maintained their friendly relationship that existed since they were coming up in the junior circuit, the equation between the two ended up descending into a bitter rivalry that often hurt the team. It culminated in Rosberg denying Hamilton a third consecutive title in 2016 and then retiring immediately after confirming the driver’s championship.
“In a way, I always like change because change provides you with opportunity. In the same way we embraced the Nico situation, and that was equally like from one moment to the other, unexpected, I’m really looking forward to taking the right decisions with the team together with my colleagues on who’s going to be in the seat next year. Maybe it’s a chance to do something bold,” said Wolff.
