Toto Wolff revealed how efforts were made at Mercedes to avoid a \u201cborderline hostile\u201d dynamic with Lewis Hamilton after he signed with Ferrari.<\/p>\n
That proved a successful mission, with Wolff and Hamilton<\/a> remaining on very good terms to this day, so much so that Hamilton is visiting Mercedes on race weekends despite now being a Ferrari driver, and also regularly flies home with Wolff and a pair of former Mercedes team-mates.<\/p>\n Lewis Hamilton has not forgotten his Mercedes roots<\/p>\n Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes proved a record-breaking partnership, his six World Championships won in Mercedes colours \u2013 added to his maiden 2008 crown with McLaren \u2013 seeing the Brit match Michael Schumacher\u2019s record of seven.<\/p>\n Hamilton meanwhile set outright records such as most wins, poles and podiums in F1 history\u00a0during a run of eight consecutive Constructors\u2019 Championships for Mercedes between 2014-21.<\/p>\n But, with Hamilton restricted to a handful of race wins from then on, he decided to join Ferrari, the timing coming as a shock as that F1 2025 move was confirmed before the 2024 campaign even got underway.<\/p>\n That meant the potential for fireworks, but despite some hard-hitting outbursts from Hamilton in what was an underwhelming final season with Mercedes, peace prevailed, and strong bonds remain in-tact, as Wolff \u2013 Mercedes team boss and one-third owner \u2013 explained in a Wall Street Journal<\/a> interview.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he decided to go, it could have been very awkward, borderline hostile, and we actively talked about how to not make it that,\u201d said Wolff. \u201cAll of us made a real effort in trying to be very accommodating, very understanding.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s maintained being a friend. He pops up in the office on the weekend! He speaks with the engineers, gets some food. After many Grand Prix, he travels back with me. So we have the old gang: Valtteri Bottas, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and me flying from the races.\u201d<\/p>\n Latest F1 2025 head-to-head standings from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n