Lewis Hamilton will leave Mercedes at the end of the season to join Ferrari which leaves Toto Wolff without his star driver.
Hamilton shocked the F1 world earlier this year by confirming he would join the iconic Italian team from 2025 ending a ridiculously successful stint with Mercedes.
The 39-year-old has clinched six of his seven world titles with the team but Mercedes have struggled in recent years with Red Bull dominating the drivers and constructors championships over the past two seasons.
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Hamilton’s relationship with Mercedes team principal Wolff remains strong despite the announcement but the 52-year-old admitted he was hurt over how the transfer was handled.
Wolff pointed the finger at Ferrari for leaking the news while claiming he wasn’t totally blindsided by Hamilton’s decision to move teams.
“There is a professional and a personal relationship,” he told Sky Sports when asked about his dynamic with Hamilton following the announcement.
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“When he signed a very short-term contract [last year], it was clear that could happen.
“What's bruising is that I didn't have any time to react. It was basically the same day. I said, 'How are we going to announce this? The beginning of the season or mid-season?”
Wolff claimed it was ‘clear’ the leaks were coming from Ferrari’s end.
He continued: “It was clear it was leaking from Ferrari. That didn't give me any time to do any stakeholder management, [talk to] sponsors, shareholders and explain what was happening. That was the only thing.
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“But there is a good motto 'play hard, forgive quickly and apologise when you're wrong'. The personal relationship [with Hamilton] doesn't suffer. If I put myself in his shoes, I can understand because the team wasn't doing very well.
"When you're in the last phase of your career, everyone wants to wear red overalls with a yellow prancing horse. Probably the financial terms were also very positive. So I got my head around it and I have absolute peace with him in my relationship.
“We haven't divorced as friends.”
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Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur strongly denied the accusations and believes the leak regarding Hamilton’s move originated in the United Kingdom.
“We had no leaks - I think it was done by purpose by someone from the UK,” he told Motorsport.com.
“I really appreciated that we are a small group, and we worked for months, and we are able to go until the end and had no leakage. It was a good one.
“We had some leakages at the beginning when I joined, even before I joined because I understood in the press that I will go to Ferrari before I started the discussion with Ferrari. In the last six months, you had gossip in the press, but it was gossip and not real leaks from the team.”
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Hamilton will replace Carlos Sainz as Charles Leclerc’s partner for next season with the Spaniard facing an uncertain future in the sport as he weighs up his options in the drivers market.
Topics: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Ferrari, Formula 1
Marcus Banks