Toto Wolff ‘bells ringing’ about Lewis Hamilton after surprise tip-off revealed

Toto Wolff has revealed that he was first informed that Lewis Hamilton would be leaving Mercedes for Ferrari by the father of Carlos Sainz.

Hamilton shocked the F1 world in February by announcing that he will join Ferrari on a multi-year contract from the F1 2025 season, ending his long and successful association with Mercedes.

Toto Wolff lifts lid on Lewis Hamilton Mercedes exit

The British driver has claimed six of his joint-record seven World Championships with Mercedes, as well as becoming the first man to surpass 100 grand prix victories and pole positions, since joining the team from McLaren at the beginning of 2013.

Mercedes also have the distinction of providing the engines for every single one of Hamilton’s 353 F1 appearances, stretching back to his debut season in 2007.

The news of Hamilton’s arrival coincided with Ferrari announcing that Sainz would leave the team at the end of F1 2024, having arrived at Maranello as the replacement for four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel in 2021.

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Despite receiving the blow that he will be forced to make way for Hamilton, Sainz has responded by producing his most complete season to date in F1 2024, collecting two victories in Australia and Mexico.

The 30-year-old Spaniard announced in July that he will join Williams on a multi-year deal from next season, having been overlooked for seats at the likes of Red Bull and Mercedes, who have promoted teenage sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Hamilton’s successor.

Appearing on the High Performance podcast, Wolff has revealed that Sainz’s father and rally legend Carlos Sainz Sr was the first to break the news to him that Hamilton would be leaving Mercedes in January, a fortnight before the official announcement.

And the Mercedes boss knew his suspicions were true when his friend and Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur ignored a message about the Scuderia’s negotiations with Hamilton.

He said: “I heard the bells ringing two weeks before. The old man Sainz called me and said: ‘This is what’s happening.’

“Then a few drivers’ dads rang me up that didn’t before. So I thought: ‘OK, there’s something going on there.’

“And then I sent a text to Fred Vasseur saying: ‘You’re taking our driver?’

“Didn’t get any response. Very unusual for Fred, he’s a good friend. So I saw it coming.”

Wolff told media including PlanetF1.com the morning after Hamilton’s Ferrari switch was made official that the seven-time World Champion broke the news to him around 36 hours in advance, over breakfast at Wolff’s home in Oxfordshire.

The Mercedes boss revealed that he tried to catch Hamilton off guard by disclosing that the team had signed technical guru Simone Resta from Ferrari, prompting the driver to confess that he would be heading in the opposite direction for F1 2025.

Wolff said: “When Lewis arrived in the house, like he did so many years before, we had a bit of a small talk like we always do about the Christmas holidays and all of that.

“Then I said: ‘Well, we’re recruiting from Ferrari now. We got this guy.’

“And Lewis [said]: ‘Oh, there’s something I need to tell you…”

“When he said that, that initial moment was a little bit of: ‘So this is really happening?'”

Hamilton’s decision to leave Mercedes came in the midst of the longest barren run of his F1 career, with the seven-time World Champion suffering two consecutive winless seasons in 2022/23 as the team struggled to adapt to the ground-effect regulations.

His 945-day winless streak ended in emotional fashion as Hamilton took victory at his home race at Silverstone in July, following it up with a record-extending 105th career victory weeks later after team-mate George Russell was disqualified.

Wolff revealed that Pep Guardiola, the legendary football manager, advised him to allow his top stars to leave if they wish to do so, with the Mercedes boss quickly accepting Hamilton’s exit.

He said: “I had much worse in my life happening, like real drama and trauma. This is not even moving the needle.”

“It’s just a new situation. It has risks and opportunities – risks in the sense of: how do I inform the sponsors as quickly as possible? Because it [rumours of Hamilton’s Ferrari move] was leaking.

“And on the other side, what are we doing about next year?”

“I think if someone decides to go, then you need to let them go.

“I had a chat with Pep Guardiola a long time ago and he is a friend. I said: ‘What do you do if this and that player leaves?’

“And he said, ‘What do you mean I do?’

“I said, ‘Well, do you try to convince them to stay?’

“He said: ‘No, if somebody thinks he can play elsewhere better or earns more – you have just got to let them go.’

“It is something that I embrace in the same way here. Somebody wants to go, then let’s make it as good as possible for each of the parties.”

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