Lewis Hamilton facing impossible Mercedes-Ferrari decision

Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes exit was more than just an F1 switch. Instead, it was like a divorce after 30 years of marriage, heart-wrenching to watch as the champion was forced to leave his kids behind at the family home with Toto Wolff.

Nearly a year on however, a strong bond remains between Hamilton and Mercedes, with Wolff remaining one of his most feverish supporters and the pair maintaining a close friendship.

Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Wolff recently explained: "Lewis remains very important to us. He was a pillar of our team and will always be part of the Mercedes family, even though he now drives for Ferrari.

"My friendship with Lewis remains unchanged. We talk often, and I think he understands the challenges Kimi [Antonelli] faces."

While it is heartwarming to read that Hamilton still has a close relationship with his old team, it does make you wonder; is a reluctance to let go of Mercedes detrimental to Hamilton’s new relationship with Ferrari?

Can Hamilton maintain friendship with Mercedes at Ferrari?

The phrase ‘always be part of the Mercedes family’ is understandable. After six world titles Hamilton will of course define Mercedes’ legacy, both of their names synonymous with one another in the F1 history books like Jim Clark and Lotus, or Ayrton Senna and McLaren.

It's not just the team, Hamilton also remains close to Wolff and George Russell. Earlier this year, the team principal revealed that Hamilton still visits his office on a race weekend, speaks to the engineers and flies to grands prix with Wolff, Russell and Valtteri Bottas.

While this is all very lovely on a personal level, Mercedes are still Hamilton's competitors. So, can you really treat your rivals like friends in Formula 1?

Put it this way. If your partner was visiting their ex all the time for a catch up and advice, instead of spending time getting to know you and nurturing your new relationship, warning bells would start to ring, wouldn’t they?

Metaphors aside, the comparison does serve as an example of how counterproductive Hamilton’s attachment to Mercedes is. The champion is never going to improve his relationship with Riccardo Adami if he’s always comparing the Italian to Bono. In fact, if I was a Ferrari engineer and Hamilton would rather go for a coffee with his old colleagues instead of getting to know me, I’d be a bit miffed!

While a degree of smiles and cordiality in the paddock is required with Mercedes, Hamilton needs to become more ruthless in regards to the former team, or he is not going to incentivise his scarlet colleagues to truly galvanise around him.

Maybe it's a little harsh to dictate who Hamilton can get on a plane with, and plenty of rival drivers catch flights together. Furthermore, only Hamilton knows how much time he is spending with his Ferrari colleagues in comparison to Mercedes - for all we know this could be a small portion of time compared to his current team.

However, Hamilton must remember that while his relationship with the team is only one ingredient to concocting a successful Ferrari career, it is an important one nonetheless. Positive relationships foster camaraderie, streamlines communication and improves the operation of a team, all of which translates to success on track.

I don’t doubt Hamilton is trying to implement this at Ferrari. My concern is the extent to which he can achieve this if he still has one foot in the past with Mercedes.

Hamilton has a clear choice to make. Remain pally with Mercedes, or start to treat them like proper rivals. If he doesn’t start to lean towards the latter, he will only alienate his Ferrari colleagues, which could be detrimental to his future with the team and his championship chances.

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