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Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff, has revealed that not much has changed between him and Lewis Hamilton ever since he left the squad. The Austrian had a close relationship with Hamilton, as the duo spent almost all of the time together at the German team.
Toto Wolff joined Mercedes in 2012, and at the time it was a team led by Ross Brawn. The Austrian was still new at the German team when Lewis Hamilton stepped into the role of the lead driver, replacing Michael Schumacher. From 2014 onward, the Brackley-based outfit started dominating the sport.
The Mercedes power unit was by far the class of the field, and with Lewis Hamilton as his lead driver, Toto Wolff had lead the most dominant reign by a team in the sport. In 2022 the dominance came to an end, and the German team had its first stumble in the ground effect era.
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After three years of struggle, Lewis Hamilton decided to leave the team and go on a new venture with Ferrari. Ahead of the F1 Imola GP, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was questioned if the friendship was still strong enough between the two, to which the Austrian said that nothing had changed between him and the 7x F1 champion and they were still in contact.
After more than a decade-long alliance, it was time for the driver to do different things and go on a different adventure. Wolff told media, including RacingNews365.
“We're still great friends with Lewis. I spent a lot of time with him, travelling, and I’m still seeing him. It came to a point last year where, you know, it's like spending 12 years in a row on holiday with your best friend. At a certain stage you say, well, maybe do something else this time around. And for Lewis, he needed a refresher, a reinvention. Ferrari is iconic, no doubt about that. Certainly he also got terms that were interesting for him.”
Wolff on Mercedes picking Kimi Antonelli as Lewis Hamilton's replacement
Wolff further expanded on where Mercedes was at the time when Lewis Hamilton announced his move, as the team had already kept an eye on Kimi Antonelli's progress through the junior categories. The young Italian was someone that the German squad wanted in F1 as early as possible, and Hamilton's decision did indirectly open a path for his entry. Wolff said,
“With us, Kimi was in the starting blocks – eventually it was this year or it would have been next year to bring him in. Bringing him in this year means we have a learning year before new regulations kick in. He's going to know all the tracks and that felt like the right decision.”
It does appear that both the entities have now moved on and are focused on the challenges at hand. Hamilton is trying to take Ferrari back to the top, while Wolff is looking to get Mercedes back to winning ways.
