09 February 2024 , 06:00
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Toto Wolff said he will "discuss" how Lewis Hamilton handled his planned switch to Ferrari.
But the Mercedes chief insists he holds "no grudge" against his star driver for wanting to make the move. Hamilton will leave the Silver Arrows at the end of the upcoming 2024 campaign to begin a new chapter of his glittering career with the Scuderia.
It provides team principal Wolff with the headache of figuring out who to replace the seven-time world champion with. He at least has a lot longer to decide that than Mercedes did to scramble together a press release announcing the Briton's planned departure.
Wolff said Hamilton had informed him last Wednesday of his plan to join Ferrari for 2025. By that evening, reporters were already emerging in the Italian press that the long-rumoured switch might actually be about to come to fruition.
By the following morning it was common knowledge among the F1 media that the story was, in fact, true. And, at 7pm GMT on the Thursday, simultaneous announcements went out from Mercedes and Ferrari, while Carlos Sainz put out a statement of his own to make it official that he is the one who will be replaced by Hamilton.
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Wolff has made peace with the Briton's decision to try something new in a bid to win an eighth drivers' title before he retires. But, speaking to reporters, he admitted he wants to have another chat with his driver over the way the matter was handled.
He said: "My thoughts were pragmatic. What does it mean? When are we communicating this? What are the pressure points? How are we managing the season going forward? I will always respect the difficulty of the situation that he faced and in the future we will discuss whether this could have been done in a different way or not, but I hold no grudge."
Hamilton signed a new Mercedes deal only last August which was described at the time as a two-year deal. What was not immediately made clear was that the second year was only an option for Hamilton and that he had the chance to trigger an early exit - which his has done in order to facilitate his Ferrari switch.
Ferrari have given Hamilton a "multi-year" deal meaning a guaranteed seat until at least the end of 2026, while there have been some reports that they may be an option for a third season included as well. Wolff admitted that was not something Mercedes could match.
He said: "We are big boys. We knew that by signing a short-term contract, it could be of benefit for both sides. We couldn't commit for a longer period and he's taken the option to exit. So, in a way, I totally, we totally, respect that. You can change your mind with different circumstances."