boss has reiterated his shock on the timing of ’s exit from the crew for subsequent yr – while additionally emphasising that each athlete has a “shelf life.”
Seven-time world champion Hamilton, who received six of his titles with Mercedes, on the finish of the season to hitch Ferrari in 2025.
Hamilton, 39, introduced the shock switch previous to the beginning of the present season and whereas Wolff insists in a brand new e-book – Inside Mercedes F1: Life within the Quick Lane – that he was not stunned Hamilton opted for a brand new problem, the timing was a shock of types and meant he couldn’t negotiate with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc or McLaren’s Lando Norris.
“I completely had it on my radar that Lewis would go,” Wolff mentioned.
“I simply couldn’t perceive why he would change to a different crew earlier than we knew if we have been going to be aggressive. It additionally didn’t give me any time to react.
“I needed to emergency name our companions and I probably missed out on negotiating with different drivers who had signed contracts a number of weeks earlier like Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris.
“[But] I just like the scenario – it helps us as a result of it avoids the second the place we have to inform the game’s most iconic driver that we need to cease.”
Wolff, who has changed Hamilton with to companion George Russell subsequent yr, additionally defined his rationale for not giving Hamilton a long-term contract.
“There’s a cause why we solely signed a one-plus-one-year contract,” Wolff added.
“We’re in a sport the place cognitive sharpness is extraordinarily necessary and I consider everybody has a shelf life. So I want to have a look at the following technology.
“It’s the identical in soccer. Managers like Sir Alex Ferguson or Pep Guardiola, they anticipated it of their efficiency of their prime stars and introduced in junior gamers that drove the crew for the following years.”
Hamilton is at present on monitor for his worst season in F1 by way of championship place. He at present lies seventh within the drivers’ standings, two factors off teammate Russell in sixth, forward of the following race in Las Vegas on 23 November.
