Wolff backs struggling Hamilton to find Mercedes F1 magic at Ferrari
The Mercedes chief says there are no questions over Lewis Hamilton’s ability, and said he will be "stellar" for Ferrari's Formula 1 team
Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff says he has "no doubt" that his former driver Lewis Hamilton will recapture his "stellar" old form while racing for his new Ferrari squad.
Hamilton moved to Ferrari for this season after 12 years at Mercedes, with a brilliant pole-to-flag sprint win in China punctuating a much more difficult start to the season. He has been adrift compared to team-mate Charles Leclerc on most race weekends.
After a particularly difficult Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Hamilton looked bereft of ideas over how to gel with Ferrari's 2025 car, admitting there was "not one second" he was comfortable in his new machine. In contrast, Leclerc took a podium – Ferrari’s first of the year.
Now, Hamilton’s former team principal is backing the Brit to turn his form around after acclimatising to his new environment, pointing to the China weekend as evidence that the seven-time world champion's magic is still present.
"I think we've seen that magic in the [Shanghai] sprint race. He was completely dominating that race," Wolff said at the Miami Grand Prix. "And it's not like you have the magic in one race and then suddenly you lose your magic in the following one. I very much believe that that it is still there.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
"If he aligns all of his performance contributors, if he feels being in the right space, the car to his light liking, he will be stellar. I have no doubt about that."
But Wolff also said he was not taken aback by Hamilton having to take his time to get adjusted to his new environment, something which was echoed by Carlos Sainz, the driver the 40-year-old Briton replaced at the Scuderia.
"I'm also not surprised that it has those road bumps," the Austrian added. "He's been with us 12 years. The way of operating, he's being put in a Ferrari where his team-mate has been for a long, long time, and his team-mate clearly is one of the very good ones.
"If I look from the outside – and speaking to him – I think it's a trajectory that any new driver needs to go through in a top team."
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