Toto Wolff doesn’t believe that Lewis Hamilton’s poor start to the season stems only from already having his sights set on his new adventure at Ferrari, but at the same time he admitted that the British driver is inevitably encouraged to see the Maranello team’s positive start of the 2024 F1 championship.
After the last two challenging seasons, everyone was expecting a revival from Mercedes, with the engineers at Brackley introducing a car that significantly deviates from the philosophy of the W13 and W14, incorporating some innovative solutions. However, in the first three Grands Prix, the W15 has actually proven to be miles behind Red Bull, Ferrari, and even McLaren, with both drivers struggling to find confidence.
Particularly, Lewis Hamilton has not felt particularly comfortable with the new car, coming off a retirement due to a Power Unit failure in Melbourne and currently sitting in tenth place in the drivers’ standings with only 8 points.
In addition to the obvious technical difficulties, many have begun to speculate that the Englishman’s focus is already on his new adventure at Ferrari starting in 2025, with George Russell seeming to have approached the season with a different mindset than last year.
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However, Toto Wolff was quick to dismiss such a theory: “He’s obviously in a situation where, on one hand, it’s very frustrating not to be able to achieve results. On the other hand, if you look beyond the fence, it’s very exciting what’s happening (at Ferrari).”
Despite Ferrari’s excellent form, the Austrian doesn’t believe Lewis Hamilton’s mind is only focused on his move to Ferrari: “I’m confident that’s not his priority today. George is a fighter, he’s committed, and he knows that’s his place. We need to address the issue.”
The seven-time world champion has always stated his intention to give his all in his final season with Brackley and to honor the cause to the fullest. However, it’s clear that, with Ferrari performing so well and Mercedes struggling, the desire to reach the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as soon as possible can only grow.
Source: f1ingenerale
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