The way Hamilton departs Mercedes leaves Wolff with a painful scar

Lewis Hamilton leaves for Ferrari, opening a massive gap at Mercedes. Surely, the way Hamilton left and the reason behind his departure must feel extremely painful for Mercedes and Toto Wolff.

Drivers talking to different teams is no secret in Formula 1. Ferrari is a dream drive for many. The Italian team will always reach out to the biggest names in the sport. In the recent past, they plucked top talent Kimi Raikkonen away from McLaren, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was picked up from Renault, Sebastian Vettel left Red Bull Racing for Ferrari and world champion Michael Schumacher left Benetton for the illustrious team from Maranello.

It is also no secret that Lewis Hamilton is attracted to Ferrari. The Brit likes a challenge, and even while at Mercedes, he still mentioned that he felt strange that he would probably never drive for Ferrari. How different does the situation look a year later?

Why Hamilton was tempted by Ferrari

So, something must have changed. Less than a year ago, Hamilton signed a contract until 2025, yet a clause allowed him to switch to Ferrari as early as the end of 2024.

That option was probably in there because, at 39, Hamilton wants to know if a car is competitive. In 2023, he revealed in a press conference that this is precisely why he wants to stay with Mercedes: "We are still a team that can win titles, only we have made wrong choices that have left us with a bad car. We are now working hard to improve that."

Somewhere along the way, Hamilton has lost faith in the Mercedes project. Mercedes finished second in 2023, just ahead of Ferrari. However, Hamilton's final set of races did not go smoothly, and the Brazilian Grand Prix was particularly painful. Mercedes' technical team did not seem to know why things went so wrong. A sign of things to come for Hamilton?

Only Hamilton knows when and why he lost faith in Mercedes' turnaround. He will keep that to himself, especially in a Mercedes' shirt, for some time to come. However, the way he informed Mercedes of his decision will feel like a stab in the back to Toto Wolff.

In recent years, Wolff and Hamilton have always communicated to the outside world that they discuss everything with each other. They are said to be very good friends. The two became increasingly close, especially after the confrontation at the end of 2016 when Hamilton felt aggrieved by the team in the battle with Nico Rosberg.

Why Hamilton's departure is painful for Mercedes

Hamilton's complete U-turn just after signing a new contract was a huge surprise to Mercedes and Wolff. It was such a big surprise that Wolff was not even in Brackley at the time of the meeting with the Mercedes staff. Wolff appeared at the meeting via video link.

Wolff was only told at the last minute. Hamilton told Wolff on Wednesday morning, 31 January, that he would activate a clause in his contract and leave. That same evening, the first rumours were already circulating in Italy, after which things gained momentum on Thursday, and Mercedes had to act quickly.

Mercedes will not thank Hamilton for making such a fool of them in one day. Of course, news would soon leak out in Italy that Hamilton was moving to the team. Had Lewis clarified to Mercedes earlier, Mercedes could also have handled it more cleanly. Now, the whole team heard about their star's move in the media.

That Hamilton is leaving for rival Ferrari and apparently sees more prospects there than at Mercedes must hit Wolff and cohorts hard. On the contrary, there seemed to be calm there after the longer tenure of front-runners Wolff and James Allison. The star driver is leaving immediately, which creates turmoil again. It will be particularly interesting to see how well the two can get along for their final season together.