Toto Wolff discussed why he was convinced that
Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, would have no problems after joining
Ferrari.
Starting in 2025, Lewis Hamilton will enter a
new chapter in his life. After spending all his career driving for F1 teams with
Mercedes power units based in the
United Kingdom, he will not move to
Italy to drive for
Ferrari.
It is obviously a big step as the 39-year-old will have to adjust to the new car, environment, colleagues, and overall culture, which multiple F1 experts claim is very different at the team from Maranello.
Shortly after Hamilton's contract with Ferrari was announced, 2009 Champion
Jenson Button said that going to a team where they speak Italian and where his future teammate Charles Leclerc speaks Italian would be a huge challenge for the Briton.
The team principal of Mercedes, Toto Wolff, on the other hand, doesn't think it will be such a big deal for the seven-time World Champion. He told
Motorsport.com:
"I think many people say that it's going to be really difficult. But I think if you say it's going to be really difficult, then often it's the opposite."
"Ferrari is a great team, great people, lots of emotion and passion and therefore it's pressure. But I believe they are going to find a way of working with each other."
"I think we had such a great run with Lewis over the last 12 years. He's always going to be part of the family."
Wolff also pointed out that there will be moments when Mercedes misses a driver with the experience of Lewis Hamilton. However, he added that replacing him with the super-young Kimi Antonelli was the right move.
"Obviously, there will be moments where Lewis's experience would have benefited the team."
"Kimi is going to be on a steep learning curve, but it's absolutely the right thing for the team to do and there's not one person that would have done it differently."