Lewis Hamilton F1 News: Breakfast summit revealed by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff at the Dutch Grand Prix in 2023 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Hamilton F1 breakfast summit revealed by Mercedes boss Wolff

Toto Wolff caught off guard by Lewis Hamilton’s breakfast announcement but excited for future

Shay Rogers

Thursday 8 February 2024 20:57

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Toto Wolff has confirmed that Lewis Hamilton broke the news of his Mercedes departure to him over breakfast at his home in Oxford.

The Brit will leave the Silver Arrows after 12 seasons with the team, to join Ferrari from the start of the 2025 season.

It marked the biggest Formula 1 transfer news in history, with virtually none of the paddock expecting the move before it broke last week.

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Even Wolff himself was caught slightly off guard by the decision, which leaves him with a vacant seat after the conclusion of the 2024 season.

Lewis Hamilton will depart the Mercedes team after 12 seasons at the end of 2024

Lewis Hamilton will join a Ferrari team that is without a championship in 16 years

George Russell will have a new team-mate heading into the 2025 season with Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes

Wolff: I hold no grudge

Talking to AP News about how he received the information, he revealed that despite rumours, he wanted to wait until breakfast before finding out if they were true.

“The surprise was that I’ve heard the rumours a couple of days earlier but wanted to wait for the breakfast we had planned,” said Wolff. “It was Wednesday morning, and this is when he broke the news,

“But, you know, you can be very straightforward with me because I’m very straightforward too. So, once he said, ‘This is what I’m trying to do,’ that was the fact. I didn’t try to convince him otherwise.

“In the future, we will discuss whether this could have been done in a different way or not, but I hold no grudge.

“I always like change because change provides you opportunity, and in the same way we’ve embraced the Nico situation. That was equally like from one moment to the other, unexpected.”

The two must now work together to deliver an improvement on last year’s second place finish in the constructors’ championship – a year in which they failed to win for the first time since 2011.

While Hamilton will be phased out of contributing to future projects, the lasting effect and legacy he leaves with the team should enable them to remain competitive at the top of the Formula 1 ladder.

Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Mercedes Toto Wolff