Toto Wolff in Lewis Hamilton disagreement as Mercedes chief responds to Ferrari criticism

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has admitted he disagrees with his former star driver Lewis Hamilton regarding his struggles at Ferrari.

The seven-time world champion made the switch from the Silver Arrows during the off-season, and could barely contain his excitement having achieved what he described as a lifelong dream of representing the Scuderia.

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But the move has not gone according to plan, with Hamilton yet to score a single podium result in his 10 grand prix outings to date.

The Brit has cut a frustrated figure throughout much of the campaign, and following a sixth-place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix, accepted full responsibility for his poor performances.

But Wolff has leapt to Hamilton's defence, despite seeing him also endure difficult periods at Mercedes during his final years with the team.

"You don't unlearn driving that quickly," Wolff told the Bloomberg Hot Pursuit podcast. "In 2021, he was great, then the regulations changed and it became a little more difficult, but he was still performing at a very high level.

"Just by changing teams, you don't suddenly lose your skills. I think everyone needs to find a period of adaptation.

"It's a different car, a different driving DNA, and a new engineering team that you need to start together.

"Then you have to be involved in the continuous development of the car so that it suits your driving style. It's an all-Italian team and he's a British guy parachuted in there, and that takes time."

Wolff backs Hamilton to turn Ferrari form around

While some pundits have suggested Hamilton may look to quit Ferrari if results don't improve, Wolff believes it will only be a matter of time before things start to click.

"We've seen a pattern: Lewis, at the beginning of the season, needs to find his rhythm, and in the second half, he's always performed very well," he continued. "So, you should never rule out Lewis Hamilton."

On his relationship with the 105-time race winner, Wolff added: "You always miss someone like him. We're still close friends and we've given our word to each other that we'll stay close friends.

"We're fighting hard on track with the gloves off, without gloves, because we need to fight for our respective teams, and that's the rule we have.

"But off the track, we spend time with each other, we travel together, because I don't want to miss the friend I've had for so many years."

Hamilton will look to get his Ferrari career up and running this weekend as he heads to Spielberg for the Austrian GP.

He currently sits sixth in the drivers' championship standings behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, and one spot ahead of the man who replaced him at Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli.

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