TOTO WOLFF JUST REVEALED THE QUESTIONABLE MOTIVE BEHIND LEWIS HAMILTON'S FERRARI MOVE

Credit: Fabrizio Carabelli/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Paul Bonser/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Toto Wolff has revealed the reasoning behind Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari after 12 seasons with Mercedes, which saw him win the drivers’ championship six times and help the team to eight consecutive constructors’ championships.

The British driver’s final year with Mercedes had shades of a fairytale ending. Hamilton won the 2024 British Grand Prix in his final appearance at Silverstone as a Silver Arrow, marking his first win in F1 for 945 days.

Since making the move across the pit lane to Ferrari, things haven’t quite gone to plan.

Hamilton is currently in the midst of the longest podium-less streak in his F1 career, having not yet registered a top-three Grand Prix finish with the Scuderia.

The move caused quite a stir at the time, with many not sure about the seven-time world champion’s decision to swap silver for red amid the hype of the sport’s most recognisable star joining the most iconic team.

Toto Wolff reveals Ferrari’s offer to Lewis Hamilton was ‘very good’ among other motives

In a recent interview with GPBlog, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff revealed the reasons for Hamilton’s departure from the team after such a successful tenure, stating, “There were moments of unhappiness with us, many times.

“I think all the reasons he had to go to Ferrari are still valid today. He needed a change of environment. And we needed a change of environment. We weren’t as competitive as we would have wished.

“Ferrari looked better. Every racing driver wants to race for Ferrari. He likes the colour red anyway. The deal that was on the table was very good. And that’s, like I said, these reasons are still valid today.”

Wolff’s words beg the question: should Hamilton have prioritised better contract terms at Ferrari over the stability and prior knowledge of the inner workings at Mercedes in his decision to make the move?

At the time of the seven-time world champion’s announcement, Mercedes had just pipped Ferrari to second place in the 2023 standings and was looking to build on that heading into the 2024 season.

If things had gone differently at the highly controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, we may be looking at a completely different scenario for Lewis Hamilton in F1.

But they didn’t, and Mercedes saw themselves fall down the F1 pecking order in the following season when F1 introduced a new set of regulations.

They put all of their faith in the ‘zero-pod’ concept which backfired massively, and cracks started to appear in the dynamic of the team that had once looked to be unbeatable.

Wolff may not want to make the same mistake as he did with Hamilton’s exit in relation to George Russell’s contract extension at Mercedes. Russell has made the same demands as Hamilton in negotiations, putting the ball in Wolff’s court to make a decision on the future of the team.

Did Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari make sense?

The British driver’s main motivation in sticking around in F1 into his 40s is to get another shot at an eighth world championship that he feels should have been his a long time ago, and he felt that making a move to one of Mercedes’ main F1 rivals would be the right way to go about that.

However, Hamilton would have been much better off sticking around at Mercedes and making an effort with the team’s 2026 challenger to push for a title once the new F1 regulations come into effect and the grid resets.

Instead, Hamilton has had to contend with several issues in his debut campaign with Ferrari and may have deja vu once the new cars hit the track for testing next year.

Wolff believes no one will remember Hamilton at Ferrari due to his lack of success at the team. The motorsport executive compared his current stint to Michael Schumacher’s return to F1 with Mercedes in 2010.

The German legend was a shell of his former self as he battled amongst the midfield in sub-optimal machinery. Whilst Ferrari is in a much better spot than Mercedes’ early years in F1, the lack of results for Hamilton may be having a regressing effect on his legacy in the sport.

HOW THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX WAS WON | SILVERSTONE 2024 LAP CHART

 

A RECORD BREAKING VICTORY FOR LEWIS HAMILTON AT #SILVERSTONE | IN MORE WAYS THAN QNE 😲

 

MOST WINS AT A SINGLE CIRCUIT | SIR LEWIS HAMILTON | #BRITISHGP

 

HAMILTON WINS BRITISH GP FOR NINTH TIME

Peter Cziborra/Reuters 

 Lewis Hamilton won a race-long fight with Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at a gripping, wet-dry British Grand Prix to take his first victory since December 2021.

Hamilton had just enough to hold off a late charge from Verstappen’s Red Bull to take his 104th career win, and his ninth at home to become the record-holder for victories at a single circuit.

Verstappen, who had struggled for pace through much of a race that was hit by two separate periods of rain, came alive in the closing laps to take second place from Norris, who grabbed the final position on the podium.

Hamilton, who was driving in his last British GP for Mercedes before his move to Ferrari next year, appeared to be in tears in the car as he told his team: "This means so much to me," as they congratulated him over the radio.

“This one means a lot to us all,” his engineer Peter Bonnington said. “I love you, Bono,” Hamilton replied.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff described the win as “a fairytale” for them and Hamilton.

Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri, who was also in the lead fight for the first half of the race, took fourth place ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

Classic race for Hamilton's comeback win

In front of a crowd of 164,000 people cheering the British drivers - and especially Hamilton - to the rafters despite the inclement weather, the top drivers and three leading teams put on a superb show throughout.

Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton led the early laps after locking out the front row of the grid for the team, while Verstappen passed Norris around the outside of Turn Four on the opening lap to run third.

But the Red Bull did not initially show its usually formidable race pace and Norris was able to reclaim third place on lap 15 with a pass into Stowe corner.

Piastri followed the Briton through two laps later just as the first shower of rain started, bringing the McLarens, who had chosen a higher-downforce set-up than Mercedes and Red Bull, into their own.

Hamilton made the first move, though, passing Russell into Stowe on lap 18.

A few corners later, both Mercedes drivers slid off the track at Turn Two at the start of lap 19 as they wrestled for grip on the slippery track and Norris pounced, passing Russell at Turn Four before closing on Hamilton and passing him at Turn One on lap 20.

Piastri moved up into second behind him and the McLarens ran one-two for five laps as the track began to dry.

Decisive pit stop tyres choices

The lead cars all stayed out on slick tyres through the first period of rain, but the teams knew more rain was coming and as it came down more heavily Verstappen benefited from an early stop for intermediates on lap 26.

Norris, Hamilton and Russell followed him in a lap later, Piastri suffering badly for staying out a further lap on the slicks and losing 10 seconds to the lead pack.

The stop timing vaulted Verstappen up to third behind Norris and Hamilton, with Russell fourth.

But four laps later Russell was out of the running when he was told to retire his Mercedes because of a water system problem.

By lap 38, with 14 to go, the track was almost dry, and Verstappen again jumped early for a tyre change.

He and Hamilton stopped together, Mercedes choosing soft tyres and Verstappen hard, while Norris stayed out a lap later before taking softs.

The earlier stop vaulted Hamilton ahead of Norris into the lead,.

It set up a grandstand finish, with the three cars in a single camera shot on the Hangar Straight for the entire climactic period of the race.

Hamilton always looked to have Norris under control, but the it was soon clear that Verstappen was now the major threat, the Red Bull transformed by the decision to switch to hard tyres.

Verstappen swept by Norris on lap 48 down the Hangar Straight, and went into the final four laps 3.2 seconds behind Hamilton and closing in.

But Hamilton had enough to hold him off, crossing the line 1.4secs adrift, before Hamilton fought back tears after climbing out of the car.

Meanwhile, Norris and Piastri were left to rue some dubious McLaren pit calls - both Norris’ stops were a lap too late, while Piastri was undone by the decision not to double-stack him behind Norris when they changed to inters.

And Piastri’s pace on the medium tyres at the end of the race - he was the fastest car on the track by a quite some margin - suggested that Norris, too, should have gone on to them when he made his final stop.

Behind Sainz, Hulkenberg impressed in a Haas heavily upgraded for this race in sixth place, while Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso took seventh and eighth as Williams’ Alex Albon and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda completed the points positions in the top 10.

- Andrew Benson, F1 Correspondent at Silverstone

SIR LEWIS HAMILTON SHINES AT HOME | WINS THE 2024 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

 

BRITISH GRAND PRIX: UNDER PRESSURE SERGIO PEREZ SPINS OUT OF Q1

Sergio Pérez ended up in the gravel in the first qualifying session. Peter Fox - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images

 SILVERSTONE, England -- Under-pressure Sergio Pérez did nothing to quieten the noise around his future, spinning out of the first qualifying session at the British Grand Prix.

Pérez ran wide at the Stowe corner and then lost control of his car, getting beached in the gravel in the process.

"I put my hand up because I f----- up today," he said on Saturday after the incident.

Pérez, who signed to a new Red Bull deal after the Monaco Grand Prix but has only scored 15 points at the past five races, appears to be on shaky ground at the world champions.

Sources have indicated to ESPN a continuation of his bad form into the summer break could force the team to consider replacing him at the team.

Pérez, who will start from 19th, dismissed the suggestion his mistake was down to the mounting speculation.

"No, no no no, that has nothing to do with it," he said. "I'm fully focused on my job, I'm fully focused on getting the performance out of myself, I know where I can be, yesterday we had a very positive day, things were looking in the right direction, so yeah, head down and it's a matter of time before we turn around the situation."

Red Bull have grown increasingly alarmed by Pérez's spiralling form now that McLaren appear to be contenders for victory at every race.

It was hoped a new deal for Pérez, and an end to the uncertainty over his future which seems to follow him around this point in every season, would kick-start his season, but the opposite has happened.

Several hours before Pérez's exit from Q1, McLaren CEO Zak Brown told the media at Silverstone that Pérez's rotten streak of results means his team could well fight Red Bull for the constructors' championship, held between the 10 teams.

RB drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda would both be in prime position to step up and replace Pérez were that to happen, with New Zealander Liam Lawson then available to replace either of them.

Asked if he was confident of keeping his place in the team over the coming months, Perez said: "Yes of course, like I said, I'm fully committed to the team, I'm fully committed to my career, I have a contract with the team and I will turn things around, it's not something that distracts me or anything like that. I want to get back to my form and focus on important things."

- Nate Saunders, General Editor, F1

TOUGH QUALIFYING SESSION FOR FERRARI | BRITISH GRAND PRIX 2024

 

FORMULA 1 QATAR SECOND PRACTICE SESSION CLASSIFICATION | AIRWAYS BRITISH GRAND PRIX 2024 | SILVERSTONE |

 

FIRST PRACTICE SESSION CLASSIFICATION | FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS BRITISH GRAND PRIX 2024 | SILVERSTONE