Mercedes Components 1 crew principal Toto Wolff has claimed ideas he’s “completely satisfied” that Lewis Hamilton is leaving the crew have taken his feedback “out of context”.
Hamilton is getting into his final three races in Mercedes colors earlier than his change to Ferrari for subsequent yr, having gained six F1 drivers’ titles in his time with the Brackley-based outfit that he joined in 2013.
It left Mercedes with a seat to fill alongside George Russell, with teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli chosen to make the step up from Components 2.
Within the new Inside Mercedes F1: Life within the Quick Lane ebook, Wolff said that Hamilton’s decision to leave was a positive as “it avoids the second the place we have to inform the game’s most iconic driver that we wish to cease”.
“There’s a motive why we solely signed a one-plus-one-year contract,” he added.
“We’re in a sport the place cognitive sharpness is extraordinarily necessary, and I imagine everybody has a shelf life.”
That remark sparked media protection and social media debate however talking to BBC Radio 4’s In the present day programme forward of the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend, Wolff clarified: “You recognize that was taken just a little bit out of context.
“What I used to be referring to was that each one of us age, whether or not it’s in a automotive, on a pitch, or as a supervisor or entrepreneur.
Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 Crew, within the storage
Photograph by: Mark Sutton
“And that’s what I’m attempting to do with myself; perceive, ‘Am I going from nice to good?’ As a result of good just isn’t in Components 1 anymore.
“Now opposite to my very own self-assessment, I believe we see with Lewis that he’s very a lot there when the automotive is correct. And we haven’t been capable of give him that automotive to carry out his finest, and that could be a frustration that we share equally within the crew, and for himself.
“However he’s very sharp. He’s totally different to when he was a 20-year-old, that’s definitely clear. However his expertise and his race craft is great.”
Hamilton has gained two races in his Mercedes swansong yr, ending a drought courting again to the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with an emotional victory on the British GP.
The 39-year-old additionally gained the Belgian GP after team-mate George Russell, who crossed the end line first, was disqualified for operating underweight.
Russell is 2 factors forward of Hamilton heading into this weekend’s Las Vegas GP, with Mercedes shifting its attentions to 2025 having accepted it is unlikely to improve on fourth in the constructors’ standings.
