After news of Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferrari came out, the most affected person has to be Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. Having guided Mercedes to become a force to reckon with today side-by-side with the Briton, Wolff may have never seen this development coming. However, Business F1 magazine reported that 2024 was anyways going to be a test for the Austrian boss. Wolff had announced his own contract renewal for the next three years which keeps him at Brackley till the end of 2026. However, given Mercedes’ recent slump, Business F1 suggested that the 52-year-old’s position may still be under threat if the recent downturn in form continues.
In their February 2024 issue, they cited that Wolff announced his contract to deem himself unsackable. He is already a 33% stakeholder of the Mercedes F1 teams besides Ineos and the Mercedes-Benz group. Therefore, it is virtually impossible to make the Austrian leave against his wish.
However, the report also highlighted how the parent company of the team, Mercedes-AMG, is unhappy with the team’s decline in form in the past two years. It also mentioned an article in the London Daily Telegraph that summarized all the pressure on Toto Wolff to deliver a better season than 2023, a year they went winless for the first time in 11 years.
Consequently, another season like the last two, and Wolff‘s position may become untenable. The Business F1 report also suggested that even all the success the Austrian achieved for the Brackley team from 2014 to 2021 may not be able to save him.
The timing of this is certainly awful for Wolff as Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari is a huge blow for him. Persisting to secure Hamilton’s eighth world championship, Wolff will feel upset and perhaps even betrayed if this news is a shock for him as well.
How Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari has a huge impact on Mercedes and everyone else?
Given Lewis Hamilton is on great terms with Toto Wolff, it is unlikely that the Briton did not give his boss a heads-up about his big move. However, even with a prior heads-up, Wolff would have been shocked upon hearing his good friend not willing to stay on his team.
However, aside from the camaraderie perspective, this news is a massive blow to Mercedes‘ championship hopes as well. While they hope to close the gap to the front and fight for the title this year, Hamilton perhaps doesn’t think so. The Briton might have given up on any hopes of progress with the Silver Arrows and thus decided to make the Ferrari switch.
On the brighter side for George Russell, this is a big boost. With the 39-year-old champion going away, Russell will perhaps take over as the lead driver for Mercedes, unless they sign up another star driver.
Currently, there are no major rumors about Hamilton’s replacement. However, some reports suggest that Fernando Alonso may arise as an option. It’s worth wondering how the #63 driver may feel about going up against Alonso after Hamilton.
Nonetheless, Alonso partnering Russell is just the latest hot rumor of this 2024 silly season. Hamilton leaving Mercedes will most likely have a domino effect on the driver market now.
Even his predecessor at Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, will now actively look for a new seat for the 2025 season. Besides these two and Alonso, multiple drivers like Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo, etc. are likely to move to other teams amid this big driver reshuffle.
