F1 News
Wolff: Sainz Sr exposed Hamilton's Ferrari move before I knew
Lewis Hamilton shocked the Formula 1 world after it was announced that he would be moving to Ferrari for the 2025 season. The move of the seven-time world even came as a shock to Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team boss. Hamilton, who has been at Mercedes since 2013, only has three races to go before his hugely successful Mercedes tenure comes to an end. Wolff recently told the High-Performance Podcast that he had his suspicions a little earlier after Carlos Sainz's father leaked the news.
The arrival of the 105-time Grand Prix winner meant that either Carlos Sainz or Charles Leclerc would have to be replaced. It was swiftly decided that Spaniard Sainz would make way, and Hamilton would partner Ferrari's star boy Charles Leclerc. This, of course, left Sainz without a drive for the future. Carlos Sainz Sr. contacted Wolff to let him know of the shockwave that was about to unfold.
Wolff: 'The old man Sainz called me and told me!'
Wolff recently revealed that he had a sneaky feeling he knew Hamilton would leave for the iconic Italian team before the Brit had told him. "So I heard the bells ringing two weeks before. The old man Sainz (Carlos Sainz Sr) called me and said, this is what's happening. And then there were a few drivers that rang me up that didn't before. So I thought, okay, this is, something is going on there," he began. Sainz's father is a two-time WRC champion and an expert when it comes to motorsport. Wolff would, of course, pick up his phone if the legend was calling.
"Then I sent a text to Fred Vasseur saying, you're taking our driver? Didn't get any response. Very unusual for Fred. He's a good friend. So yeah, I saw it coming," Wolff revealed. Hamilton previously worked with Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur in his GP2 days when the Frenchman was heading up the ART Grand Prix team.
Hamilton broke the news to Wolff over small talk:
After hearing whispers, the Austrian finally saw that the Ferrari rumours were indeed true before the 2024 season began. "We had a bit of a small talk like we always do about Christmas holidays and all of that. And then I said, well, we are recruiting from Ferrari now. We got this guy, and then Lewis said, 'Oh, there's something I need to tell you. When he said that, that initial moment was a little bit of, 'So this is really happening.' I can't imagine you anywhere else than Mercedes, but instantly, it's like, okay, what are we doing with this?" Wolff concluded.
Young Italian star Kimi Antonelli will take Hamilton's seat for 2025. Antonelli has big shoes to fill at Mercedes, but Wolff is faithful that his young star will deliver.
This article was written in collaboration with Cas van de Kleut
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