Lewis Hamilton F1 News: Toto Wolff reveals SHOCK driver signing hopes after Ferrari announcement

Wolff, Hamilton, social — Photo: © IMAGO

Mercedes

Wolff reveals SHOCK Hamilton replacement hopes after stunning announcement

Toto Wolff had to come to terms with Lewis Hamilton's departure earlier in 2024

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 9 November 2024 14:58

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed his initial driver signing hopes, if Lewis Hamilton's shock Ferrari announcement had come a little sooner.

Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Hamilton stunned the F1 world, when he announced he would be ditching Mercedes for Ferrari for the 2025 season and beyond.

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It means that the sport will get to see a partnership between one of the most successful drivers in F1 history, and the single most successful team on the grid.

Hamilton announced his decision to break up a highly successful 12-season partnership with Mercedes before the start of the 2024 season, giving the Brackley outfit plenty of time to find their replacement for the Brit.

Lewis Hamilton will join Ferrari in 2025

Kimi Antonelli will replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in 2025

Mercedes' Hamilton replacement options

In the early days of Hamilton's news, Wolff constantly expressed his desire to bring three-time champion Max Verstappen into the fold at Mercedes amid a turbulent few months for Red Bull.

Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel were two more huge names that were linked with Hamilton's seat, but the team eventually decided upon 18-year-old Italian sensation Kimi Antonelli to partner George Russell from 2025.

Wolff previously admitted that he was taken aback by the timing of Hamilton's announcement, but that he had been tipped off by Sainz's father that the seven-time world champion could be on his way to Maranello.

Now, the Austrian has revealed that the team just missed out timing-wise on potentially signing one of two huge stars on the F1 grid.

"I definitely had it on my radar that Lewis would go," Wolff confirmed in new book Inside Mercedes F1: Life in the Fast Lane.

"I just couldn’t understand why he would go to another team before we knew if we were going to be competitive.

"It also didn't give me time to react. I had to urgently call our partners and possibly missed the opportunity to negotiate with other drivers who had signed a few weeks earlier, like Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris."