LEWIS HAMILTON RESPONDS TO CONTROVERSIAL TOTO WOLFF COMMENTS ABOUT FERRARI MOVE

Lewis Hamilton has offered his thoughts on his boss' bold comments.

Lewis Hamilton has no bad blood with Toto Wolff (Image: Getty)

Lewis Hamilton has responded to Toto Wolff’s ‘shelf life’ comments, suggesting that there is no bad blood between the pair, despite the controversy that arose following a passage in a new Mercedes F1 book.

Hamilton made the decision to swap Mercedes for Ferrari in 2025 way back in February, and team principal Wolff eventually opted to replace him with Kimi Antonelli. It is a decision that he claims was made almost instantaneously, despite only being announced in September.

In a passage in the new book, ‘Mercedes F1: Life in the Fast Lane’, the Mercedes team principal described Hamilton’s decision to leave the team as a good one for him, justifying his bold comments by stating that “everyone has a shelf life”.

These comments were interpreted negatively by some fans, who believed that the Mercedes team principal was suggesting that Hamilton was past his best and that his leaving took away a difficult decision from the Silver Arrows’ leadership. Wolff has since made an effort to clarify his thoughts.

“That was taken a little bit out of context,” he told BBC Radio 4 ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

“What I was referring to is that all of us, we age, and whether it’s in the car, on a pitch, or as a manager and entrepreneur, you have to, and this is what I’m trying to do with myself, understand am I going from great to good.

“Because good is not in Formula One anymore. Now, contrary to my own self-assessment, I think we see with Lewis that he’s very much there when the car is right.

“And we haven’t been able to give him that car for him to perform best and that is a frustration that we equally have in the team and for himself.

“But he’s very sharp. He’s different to when he was a 20-year-old, that’s certainly clear. His experience and his racecraft is tremendous.”

“I have not seen the news if I’m honest up until this weekend, so I haven’t been keeping up to date with it. I think he’s clarified his point, and you know Toto has been massively supportive over the years so it doesn’t really make any bearing on.”

- HARRY SMITH