Throughout the 2024 season, several reports have claimed that a rift is developing between Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton. Although several experts have debunked these rumors in the past, they do not seem to die down.
Now, former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner is the latest to explain why Wolff and Hamilton still continue to have a strong relationship despite the latter deciding to join Ferrari in 2025. When asked about the same on The Red Flags Podcast, Steiner said,
“I don’t think Toto was jumping in joy when Lewis told him that he was not going to stay on there because there was a clear plan in place for them“.
Steiner then further explained, “They respect each other very well. I interviewed Toto after the race for Canal Plus. He was happy as sh*t” [to see Hamilton win his 104th race in Britain].
The Italian-American then added that he does not believe that Wolff would care about who wins between Hamilton and George Russell as long as Mercedes wins. When pressed further about the narrative that Mercedes would probably want to favor Russell since Hamilton is leaving them, Steiner explained why this does not make sense to him.
The 59-year-old stated that Hamilton is a driver who has helped Mercedes win eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships during the turbo-hybrid era. Therefore, his leaving would definitely hurt Mercedes’ plans for the future, but under no circumstances, Wolff would sideline someone who has been so loyal and successful for them in the past.
Wolff wanted Hamilton to persevere with Mercedes
During the same podcast, one of the hosts pointed out the radio message that Wolff gave to Hamilton after the 39-year-old won the British Grand Prix last weekend. Wolff reminded Hamilton over the radio about how he had asked the Briton to persevere despite the team’s struggles last year.
With this in mind, one of the hosts asked Steiner if Wolff was suggesting via his radio message that Hamilton made the wrong call to join Ferrari. In reply, the Italian-American said, “It could be”.
Many experts indeed believed that one of the main reasons Hamilton decided to leave Mercedes and sign for Ferrari in 2025 is because he perhaps believed that the Prancing Horse had a better chance of giving him a car that could potentially help him win a record eighth title.
Wolff himself admitted that he had no problems if Hamilton left but did not expect the 39-year-old to make up his mind this soon. Hamilton indeed did shock F1 fans around the world when he announced even before the 2024 season began that he had decided to leave Mercedes at the end of this season.
