Mercedes' former boss surprised by Hamilton: 'I never expected this'

When team principal Toto Wolff told Peter Bonnington (Lewis Hamilton's race engineer) that the seven-time world champion will switch to Ferrari after 2024, the latter responded with: "Is this an April fools joke? The Briton is certainly not the only one who did not see the transfer coming: Norbert Haug, Mercedes' former Motosport boss, could not believe his ears either.

No less than for 26 years Hamilton has been affiliated with Mercedes. Before switching to the Germans' factory team, he drove for McLaren which also had Mercedes power units. The big man behind that project was Norbert Haug. Hamilton and Haug have had a close relationship ever since, but even the German had not been informed of the decision in advance.

Speaking to Motorsport Magazin, Haug says he never expected Hamilton to leave Mercedes again. "So if I had bet on one combination in Formula 1 that would last forever, it would have been Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes," Haug says. "I was dumbfounded! I really would have sworn it would stay like this forever. And that afterwards he would stay with Mercedes as an ambassador or something."

As to Hamilton's exact reason for leaving Mercedes behind and trying his luck at Ferrari, Haug can only guess at that for now. But secretly, the Mercedes man understands this: "Everyone wants to drive a Ferrari, that is completely understandable," Haug said.