Formula 1

“When the driving ends, there’s going to be plenty of adventures we’re going to embark on” : Toto Wolff leaves door open for future reunion with Lewis Hamilton Toto Wolff has left the door open for a future collaboration with Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time F1 champion ended his 10 year stint with the Silver Arrows this month, as he now moves to Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton will now be seen driving alongside Charles Leclerc for at least the next two seasons, as he continues his quest to win a record eighth title. Toto Wolff stated that Lewis Hamilton will always remain a part of the Mercedes family. The Austrian is also open to working with the veteran driver after his stint with Ferrari. He believes that the duo will embark on several adventures together in the future, as he hints at working together post Hamilton’s retirement from racing. “There is no such thing in an end to the relationship that Mercedes has with Lewis, neither what we as a team have nor I and Susie [Wolff, wife] personally. On the contrary. I think Lewis has decided to do something else for the last part of his career, which I understand – or I can understand – but he’s always going to be part of that family and always welcome in the family,” said Wolff. “And one day, maybe when the driving ends, there’s going to be plenty of adventures we’re going to embark on,” he added. Toto Wolff applauds Niki Lauda’s effort in bringing Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes Toto Wolff acknowledged the efforts of Niki Lauda in bringing Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes. The former driver took a huge effort in persuading the Briton to join the Silver Arrows after spending several years with McLaren. “Without Niki, there wouldn’t be any Lewis with Mercedes. I think Niki was so persistent in trying to convince him to join Mercedes and, particularly, he just scored the goal with him on that Sunday night in Singapore, where Lewis DNF’d with the McLaren and convinced him to join the team,” Wolff added. Toto Wolff stated that Niki Lauda was never given enough credit for his effort in persuading Lewis Hamilton. He also revealed that the former three-time champion acted as a good mediator between the team and Lewis Hamilton. The Austrian also mentioned that Lewis Hamilton was more like a team member at Mercedes rather than just a contracted driver. The Ferrari bound driver won six titles during his 11-year reign at the Silver Arrows, winning four back to back titles from 2017 to 2020. “I’m not sure Niki was ever given enough credit for that. Took no prisoners – what’s the salary you want? – and convinced the board of Mercedes to do this. Niki was always a very good liaison between the team and Lewis in the first few years, because he was talking as a three-time World Champion and had the respect of Lewis. “Eventually it became the three of us and the whole team became one,” he added. “We sometimes call drivers contractors: they come, you pay them well, if they don’t have the right car anymore and they’re getting paid well somewhere else, they leave. Lewis changed from a contractor to team member and that was because everybody else just embraced the notion of the team that we had then.” Also Read: “Lewis can’t do that. He’s never been able to do that” : Michael Schumacher’s brother Ralf places heavy criticism over Lewis Hamilton

“Lewis can’t do that. He’s never been able to do that” : Michael Schumacher’s brother Ralf places heavy criticism over Lewis Hamilton After an almost fairytale ending with the Mercedes brand, Lewis Hamilton sets his sight on dawning the red uniform next year and potentially having one last chance of breaking the record for the number of world championships. He is currently tied with former Ferrari and F1 icon Michael Schumacher. Due to this tie, the debate of who the actual ‘GOAT’ is may be never ending, so the Briton being crowned world champion once again will go a long way. But Ralf Schumacher, Michael’s brother, believes there never has been any debate as it is understandable who he thinks is the greatest. But Ralf has also so far gone and said that Lewis Hamilton has never been able to develop a car as well as his brother and made the technicians’ lives easier along the way.  He also suggested that apart from the engineers, the Silver Arrows CEO Toto Wolff has also prompted time and again about a driver and the engineers working hand-in-hand to further develop any car, something which the German team has lacked. “The biggest difference is that Michael, among many other qualities, was able to develop a car perfectly for his driving style together with the engineers. Lewis can’t do that. He’s never been able to do that, if you listen carefully to what the Mecedes technicians say. Toto Wolff [Mercedes boss] has emphasised more than once that a driver should step on the gas and the engineers should develop.” Ralf said to Sport1.de. “But he also said that because his drivers were apparently incapable of giving the right input. Michael was completely different. He always gave his confidants like Ross Brawn or Jean Todt the direction.” the 49-year-old added. Lewis Hamilton has largely been *the* driver for Mercedes ever since Nico Rosberg’s departure in 2016, but that may not be the case now because of another top star’s presence in Ferrari in the form of Charles Leclerc. As Carlos Sainz said, the Monaco-based driver has been the cornerstone of the Italian team’s big project ever since his initial debut, and fans have already claimed him as a future world champion. Even for someone like Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, it will be difficult to break in and automatically become the top guy from the start. Ralf Schumacher understands this as he reiterated his feelings. “That makes things even more difficult for Lewis: because Charles Leclerc is the top dog. Everyone in the team knows him. For Lewis, everything is new at Ferrari. What’s more, Michael came to Ferrari as the current world champion and was much younger. That’s not the case with Lewis.” Schumacher continued. Ralf Schumacher was not finished yet, as he also said that he does not count the Briton as great of a world champion as others on the list, including the reigning champion Max Verstappen. He believes Hamilton requires the perfect environment and team to reach the top, similar to Sebastian Vettel, while drivers like the Dutchman can function exceptionally even when the odds are not in their favour. “He simply makes the difference. Max Verstappen is really capable of giving that little bit extra that those exceptional world champions before him already have. There are not many of them, and I honestly don’t count Lewis Hamilton among that list. Hamilton is certainly exceptional, but also needs a bit of the perfect environment and car, just like Sebastian Vettel. But Max Verstappen, what he has achieved this year in these circumstances – problems with Christian Horner, the departure of Adrian Newey.” Even before his debut for Ferrari, it seems like the Briton has a lot of people to silence already, and knowing him, it will just work in as extra motivation ahead of his much-awaited and important first year with the Italian team. Also Read: “I heard the bells ringing two weeks before” : Toto Wolff reveals the moment he came to know Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari

“Lewis lost that championship unfairly. Could you imagine the roles being reversed?” : George Russell fires shots at Max Verstappen In a surprising turn of events, George Russell vs Max Verstappen has now become the hottest rivalry starting next season. On what initiated as a simple one-place grid penalty for impeding the Briton which demoted the Dutchman from pole position in the Qatar GP, things seem to have escalated. On Thursday’s news conference, Russell addressed his situation with the now four-time world champion and revealed that the Dutchman threatened him to go out of his way to make him crash and put his head in the wall. He also compared Verstappen to the six-time world champion and teammate Lewis Hamilton, who would never dare to say such thing. “I don’t know why he felt the need for this personal attack and I’m not going to take it. This is me just setting the record straight, I am not going to stand here and let someone slam me personally.” “I knew that was a spur of the moment thing, but the next day, we were joking around a bit with (Sergio) Perez and Carlos (Sainz), I saw it in his eyes that he meant it.” “He’s a four-time champion. Lewis (Hamilton) is the champion I aspire to be – hard but fair; never beyond the line. We have a duty as drivers. For a world champion to come out and say he is going to go out of his way to crash into someone and put him on his head, that is not the example we should be setting.” George Russell addressed his situation boldly. Although, the Dutchman also came out to speak to De Telegraf, where he revealed that the Briton is putting false accusations towards him and he never said anything of sorts to Russell, but not before calling him a ‘loser’ and a ‘backstabber’. “He lies and pastes all kinds of things together that aren’t true.” “That’s not true. I didn’t say it like that. He’s trying to exaggerate it again.” Verstappen said when asked about Russell’s claims. “Lewis stood up to him in ’21” : George Russell claims Max Verstappen to be a bully George Russell was not finished firing shots at the Dutchman just yet. He additionally called out Verstappen’s inability to deal with adversity, hinting that Red Bull have spoon-fed him with the best cars, and when something does not go his way, he starts to spiral, giving examples of Lando Norris in Budapest and his current teammate. Russell believes that this behaviour of Verstappen has increased so much because of nobody standing up to him, except for Lewis Hamilton in 2021 where he lost the championship unfairly. “Lewis stood up to him in 2021, and Lewis lost that championship unfairly. Could you imagine the roles being reversed? I mean, [Michael] Masi would be fearing for his life.” Russell also spoke about the race director Michael Masi. “I’m not looking for any repercussion from this, I am standing up for myself to a guy who is questioning my reputation and slamming me in the media.” the Briton added. While Max Verstappen has already said that he possesses absolutely no regrets for the comments he has said to George Russell, things have gotten more serious after the inclusion of Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff, who was also present with Russell in the conference. The Austrian called out Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner, who called Russell ‘hysterical’. Wolff did not appreciate this one bit. “Why does he feel entitled to comment about my driver? If you’re thinking about it, yapping little terrier, always something to say. His forte is not intellectual psychoanalysis, but that’s quite a word. How dare you comment on the state of mind of my driver.” the Mercedes CEO said. Also Read: “I heard the bells ringing two weeks before” : Toto Wolff reveals the moment he came to know Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari

“I’ve not been at my best in dealing with those emotions” : Lewis Hamilton ahead of his final race with Mercedes at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix The dreaded day for Mercedes fans is upon them, as Lewis Hamilton begins his preparations for his last race with the Silver Arrows, after 12 long years of winning world championships and building a legacy with them. But the seven-time world champion has only recently come across his feelings of what it actually is like to leave after the final race ends. The Briton was already a Ferrari man even before the start of the season, and since then has had his hands full from something or the other. But now that the realisation is starting to hit, Hamilton recently opened up about how he underestimated the emotional level of difficulty of leaving the German team behind after so many successful years with the people whose faces he has seen every day, starting from Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff. “The first meeting with Toto at the beginning of the year was awkward, of course it was awkward from the get-go.” Hamilton said. “The day after I took the team paintballing and they had just found out … I got a lot of shots and had loads of bruises. People went in on me that day! I anticipated it would be difficult but massively underestimated how difficult. It was straining on the relationship very early on. Took time for people to get past it.” the Briton revealed that it was initially hard for the people close to him to take in his departure from Mercedes. Besides other people, the Briton himself has not had the greatest of seasons due to poor mistakes during qualifications or simply because his car was not up to the consistent standards. Still, Hamilton was able to win two Grand Prix and has showed glimpses of his usual self throughout the year. But he admits that on a personal note, he was not at his best and wants us to understand his humanity, just like every other person. “For my own self, it’s been a very emotional year for me and I think I’ve not been at my best in dealing with those emotions,” he added. “I think you’ve all seen the worst of me and the best of me and I’m not going to apologise for either because I’m only human and I’m not always going to get it right.” “I would definitely say this year has been one of the worst in terms of handling it from my side, which I’ll try to be better at. I hope the good and the highs far outweigh the negatives in terms of how I’ve behaved.” Hamilton explained. Lewis Hamilton also acknowledged the support he has received from people close throughout his career, and is thankful for them in being a part of his illustrious journey. “I just remember the good times and I’ve built some incredible relationships. When you go through a season together with so many people, not only on those weekends you are riding highs and lows together but also in their personal lives, through marriages, through divorces, through loss of family members, through cancer, through all sorts.” “You are going through all these moments with people and it’s a really beautiful journey you go on together. Being there for so long, the emotions run so deep.” the Briton said. With Lewis Hamilton’s prime years behind him, he will leave a part of him at Mercedes behind as well, but next year will offer us something much more than the Briton just having a change of uniform colours, as he will attempt to start his journey with the Italian team in the best way possible, by breaking the record of the number of world championships. Also Read: “I heard the bells ringing two weeks before” : Toto Wolff reveals the moment he came to know Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari

“I hope they look back and say… ‘maybe he moved the needle a little bit’” : Lewis Hamilton discusses about his time with Mercedes  Lewis Hamilton drove his penultimate race with the Silver Arrows before leaving for Ferrari. With Mercedes, the Briton has achieved the status of the greatest F1 driver of all time, and one look at his accolades definitely justifies that. Apart from winning six world championships, eight straight constructor’s titles and 154 podium finishes, Lewis Hamilton’s name is renowned worldwide. His achievements are unparalleled, from on-track dominance, cultural and social impacts, various businesses and above all, the inspiration he is for young fans and up and comers. When asked recently about how he would remember the 12 years he spent with Mercedes, the Briton reflected on the successes of Mercedes and how he has helped them become one of the best constructors ever. But as for himself, Hamilton wants to be remembered for more than just his performances on track. “I get asked about legacy a lot, but honestly, I don’t really think about that. I’ve tried to hold the brand to the highest level throughout the years and everything that I do hopefully has reflected the brand.” Hamilton said to the Doha News. “I hope that in 10 or 20 years, they look back and say, ‘maybe he moved the needle a little bit’, to enable people from all shapes and sizes, all different backgrounds, religion, gender, to get into the sport where they perhaps wouldn’t have been able to do before.” the Briton added. While his dominance has occasionally drawn criticism for making the sport less competitive, Hamilton’s commitment to excellence and advocacy for change ensures his place as an iconic and transformative figure not just in F1, but in all of sports. Simply as one of the best ever. “It’s a much better car than last year so I’m hoping this weekend will be different” : Lewis Hamilton wants to carry on with the momentum after success in Vegas The seven-time world champion was placed tenth after qualification but managed to finish at second place. It was a much-needed win for the Briton and Mercedes to end the drought they had been in after the summer break. With just two races left, the Brackley-based team now want to finish on a high note, and this morale might also spoil some plans for the other constructors.  For Lewis Hamilton, this the best possible chance he has to get another, and possibly his last victory with the Silver Arrows before he joins the Italians. His record is sublime in Qatar as he describes the track as ‘amazing to drive on’. “It’s a much better car than last year so I’m hoping this weekend will be different — maybe something special,” “This track is amazing to drive and it felt good. Being that it is such a fast circuit I don’t think it’s the easiest of circuits to follow, but it’s good for the tyres,” the 39-year-old explained. Qatar was also one of the four races Hamilton had to win in order to win the championship over Max Verstappen in 2021. Although that dream was crushed in the final minutes in Abu Dhabi, the experience could certainly come in handy. But when asked about that, the Briton said he does not even remember it. “I barely remember last week, I don’t remember the race but I remember the qualifying lap was pretty special.” Also Read: “I heard the bells ringing two weeks before” : Toto Wolff reveals the moment he came to know Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari

“That’s been something I’m most proud of” : Lewis Hamilton opens up about conversations beyond the track during his time at Mercedes During the later stages of his career, Lewis Hamilton has become an important figure outside the F1 world as well, as he has been doing a lot of work for the benefit of the underprivileged while also being an advocate of social and cultural aspects. Now that the Briton is leaving Mercedes, where many of these operations first initiated with the help of Team Principal Toto Wolff, he recently revealed that he hopes and expects the Austrian to continue this work even after he is gone, for the well-fair of others. “I think the thing that I’m most proud of when I think about what I leave behind, I hope, in a positive way, is the work we’ve done with diversity inclusion. That’s been something I’m most proud of.” Hamilton said to PlanetF1.com. The seven-time world champion talked about how literally everyone he talked to was in favour of this great motive, and he has full faith that Wolff along with the others will continue doing this work even after he is gone to Maranello. “From the first moment sitting down with Toto, him being open-minded, for the whole team being open-minded, all team members going through diversity inclusion training, actually creating a diversity team. “We did Ignite, actually really putting their money where their mouth is and investing and we have a very, very diverse team now, which is something that I’m really grateful for being a part of. “And when I sit with Toto, I’m like, ‘Look, when I leave, there’s going to be no one in the room that’s going to have these difficult conversations with you, but I hope that you continue that’, and obviously he will.” Hamilton states his belief over the Mercedes CEO. Lewis Hamilton talks about his final years in Mercedes The Briton and Mercedes together have had over the top success together in the last decade, as they dominated everyone else in both singles and constructor’s world championships. The name Lewis Hamilton became a life of its own, winning six more world championships and matching the record of the great Michael Schumacher, while also completely sweeping the constructor’s championships from 2014-21.  Obviously, his last few years with the Silver Arrows was not anything ground breaking, but the Briton believes that the fact that they are still showing up from time to time says it all. “And then on the track, I think naturally it’s our show of resilience over the years and the continued pursuit of perfection,” Hamilton continued. “I loved that journey. “These last few years have not been obviously spectacular in terms of performances, but there’s a lot of great things we’ve done away from the track, particularly. And again, I think this has been a real test of time to show how resilient we are. We’re still here. We’re still showing up. We’re still giving it our all. And that’s something to be proud of.” the 39-year-old explained. Lewis Hamilton will be leaving with a lifetime worth of memories with the Brackley-based team, as his new chapter at 40 years old with his favourite childhood team is about to start. Also Read: “I heard the bells ringing two weeks before” : Toto Wolff reveals the moment he came to know Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari

“It’s not something I have a grudge at all” : Toto Wolff on Lewis Hamilton going ‘behind his back’ during Ferrari transfer Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari broke the internet as it came out so unexpectedly, that too at the start of the new F1 season. The Briton still had a year left on his contract with the Silver Arrows but chose to go a different direction for probably the final chapter of his illustrious career. The news obviously shocked the fans, but it was recently revealed that even Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff did not have much of an idea of his star player moving to the Maranello-based team, until the outgoing Ferrari man Carlos Sainz’s father revealed the situation to him two weeks before. The Austrian was recently asked about whether this move by Hamilton caused distrust between the two, he was empathic enough to put himself in the Briton’s shoes and said he would have also been under pressure to first talk it out to him or other Mercedes officials. “I think when you need to set a standard for yourself and I think it was such a difficult situation for him, because our team wasn’t doing as good as we expected from ourselves, and I think the opportunity came up quickly over the winter and […] he probably didn’t have enough time to say, ‘well how am I tackling this with Toto or with Mercedes.’” Wolff said on ESPN. “So, it’s not something I have a grudge at all. If we could replay it in a better way, which… there is no better way because he was under pressure you know in the summer, in the winter, so maybe we would have had conversations.” the Austrian added. Toto Wolff spares a few words on Lewis Hamilton’s departure While George Russell got the victory at Las Vegas, the seven-time world champion did a great job to come back from a series of poor performances, coming second even when he started at tenth place. With just two races left in his 12-year long Mercedes career, the time is coming for the Briton to say goodbye to the team where he became a worldwide superstar. Toto Wolff also said a few words about Hamilton’s departure, saying how grateful he is for this lengthy partnership. “There is no overwhelming emotion now that this is ending… [but] the last race together will be quite a thing because we had this wonderful partnership for such a long time. But having said that, Lewis is not going to disappear. Lewis is going to be on the grid next year with a Ferrari. We are not losing the person, we are just losing the driver. But we embark on a new future.” Wolff said. Lewis Hamilton will be starting at Ferrari soon, and we could see him in the Italian colours as soon as early February. Also Read: “I heard the bells ringing two weeks before” : Toto Wolff reveals the moment he came to know Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari

“I should have been on pole but I’m not, so it is what it is” : Lewis Hamilton speaks after yet another disappointing qualification weekend To nobody’s surprise, qualification has yet again hindered Lewis Hamilton’s chances in Las Vegas as he will be starting at tenth position on Sunday.  On what was looking like a very promising pole position with the Briton topping both qualifying sessions on Friday while also being the fastest in Q2, it was during Q3 which let down Hamilton’s chances, as his whole lap time was deleted due to mistakes he rightfully admitted was his fault.  While Lewis Hamilton congratulated teammate George Russell for taking the pole position, he believed that he should have been the one instead. “I should have been on pole but I’m not, so it is what it is. C’est la vie, you live to fight another day,” “It is what it is. It’s been a good weekend so far so I’ll give it my best shot tomorrow. Congrats to George.” Hamilton spoke to Sky Sports. This now brings the lead to 17-5 between the Mercedes duo in terms of qualifying ahead of each other, with Hamilton on the bitter side of it. Meanwhile, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took second place and surprisingly, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly came third. Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris soon followed. “I’m really quite far back so I’ll just see what I can do from there” : Lewis Hamilton still has some faith left Car troubles have not left the side of the seven-time world champion just yet, as he revealed how the handling of his Mercedes felt different as compared to other parts of the qualifying rounds. “The car felt different in Q3, and the stability was not there for some reason. But I had it in all the other sessions,” “But ultimately I didn’t put the laps together.” the 39-year-old admitted his mistake. “I’m really quite far back so I’ll just see what I can do from there, degradation is going to be key. We had an eventful race here last year.” Hamilton still has faith going into the race as the underdog. The Briton is once again into the deep end, as starting at tenth is never the first choice for any driver. But still, it is not the end of the world as Hamilton has shown some great speed during Friday’s session. Moreover, we have also already seen the likes of Max Verstappen, who started on grid 17 in Sao Paulo, winning the whole thing in the end. So yes, the seven-time world champion obviously has what it takes but it will surely be a tough race. Also Read: “I heard the bells ringing two weeks before” : Toto Wolff reveals the moment he came to know Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari