Mercedes F1 rally Lewis Hamilton as private talks with Toto Wolff revealed

Toto Wolff is pictured in front of a smiling Lewis Hamilton in a picture composite — Photo: © IMAGO

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Mercedes rally Hamilton as private talks with Wolff revealed

Lewis Hamilton raced with Mercedes between 2013-2024

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 6 December 2025 11:51

Mercedes F1 team representative Bradley Lord has revealed that Mercedes 'feel sorry' for seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, and that Toto Wolff has been talking to the Brit.

Hamilton raced with Mercedes between 2013-2024, winning six drivers' championships in that time and helping the team claim eight consecutive constructors' titles.

However, the 40-year-old opted to ditch the team and join Ferrari in January, but has not claimed a single grand prix podium this year, and is sat down in sixth in the drivers' championship.

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He has been massively outperformed by team-mate Charles Leclerc too, with the Monegasque driver having managed to claim seven podiums in his SF-25.

What's more frustrating for Hamilton, however, is that his old Mercedes team have seen a marked improvement in 2025, sitting second in the constructors' championship while George Russell has managed to win two grands prix.

Now, Lord has said that the Mercedes team are trying to cheer up their former driver, with Wolff regularly taking flights with the Brit and talking about his performances.

"We feel sorry for him on a human level, because we know how much heart and soul Lewis puts into his work, how committed he is, how much he trains and so on," Lord told Champ1.

"And sometimes every driver has ups and downs, or phases where you just can't get it all together, and that hits him hard.

"But we try to support him in our own way, or Toto often travels with him from the races, and they talk about it a lot and, yes, we try to encourage him. Because we know that Lewis Hamilton can still be a benchmark and possibly will continue to be in this sport, and we still believe he can do it.

"But I also know that Lewis will only come out stronger from such an experience. So that makes me cautious for next year, that he can come back even stronger."

Can Hamilton bounce back in 2026?

The final year of Hamilton's contract at Ferrari is next year, but the 40-year-old has already admitted that he's not looking forward to 2026.

However, the season sees wholesale regulation changes sweeping into the sport in 2026, and that may well see Ferrari able to compete closer to the front.

The seven-time world champion will also be driving a new generation of car, which will be a relief having only claimed two race wins in four seasons since the last set of regulation changes in 2022.

Despite his previous negativity towards the 2026 season, Hamilton did say at the recent Qatar GP that he's 'excited' to drive a different type of car, claiming the current car concepts are the 'worst' he's seen in his career.

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Mercedes Toto Wolff Bradley Lord