Wolff Can Understand Hamilton's Decision To Leave Because Of 'Limited Shelf-Life'
F1Friday, 12 April 2024 at 02:00
The team principal of Silver Arrows, Toto Wolff, suggested he could understand Lewis Hamilton's decision to leave his team.
The seven-time world champion is 39 and nearing retirement. He has been with Mercedes since 2013, the longest period of time any driver has been with a single team.
He also signed a two-year contract extension with Mercedes just last summer. All signs suggested he would stay with the German team until he retires.
That is why everyone was surprised when Lewis Hamilton's contract with Ferrari was initially announced. Even though Toto Wolff learned about it a bit earlier, he admitted he was also shocked.
On the other hand, in the most recent interview, the team principal of Mercedes said he always counts on the fact that one of his drivers might decide to leave at any time. As quoted by to mirror.co.uk, he said:
"I always expect to lose a driver. Drivers sometimes change their opinion about where they want to race, and you just need to accept that, because they have a limited shelf-life in F1."
In a conversation with Wolff that was recorded and used in the Netflix series "Drive to Survive," Hamilton suggested to the team principal that he doesn't have as much time as all other people in the team who can keep working in the same spot for many, many years.
This goes to say that if Mercedes isn't doing well and doesn't have the prospect of doing better in the near future, it makes sense for the seven-time world champion to go and try his luck elsewhere.
Ultimately, that wasn't the reason for leaving the team that the 39-year-old gave the media, but it seems he made the right decision in that sense either way. Wolff added:
"Your career can maybe go into your 40s if you're one of the top guys, but then it ends, and you need to maximise your opportunities. Therefore, what maybe surprised me was the timing, but the [decision to leave], not at all."
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