Lewis Hamilton got told Toto Wolff was 'fed up' with him before leaving Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton will be gunning for his maiden victory with Ferrari at the British Grand Prix this weekend. The seven-time F1 world champion is yet to step on the podium on a Sunday afternoon since his move to the Scuderia.
However, recent history would suggest that if he is going to break his duck this season, it will be at Silverstone. The Stevenage born driver boasts nine victories in the British GP and is the most recent winner of the race, after emerging victorious last year in what proved to be his final victory with Mercedes.
Since his lucrative switch to Ferrari, a podium finish on a Grand Prix Sunday has so far eluded Hamilton, although he did manage fourth in Austria, as well as securing victory in the sprint race in China. He'll face stiff competition at Silverstone from the likes of George Russell, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff, who watched Hamilton claim six of his F1 championships with the time, might be among those expecting big things from him at Silverstone. That is despite F1 mogul Bernie Ecclestone previously accusing Wolff of growing tired of Hamilton towards the end of their collaboration.
In a 2022 interview with the Daily Mail, Ecclestone said: "Toto is getting a bit fed up with Lewis. I don't think he's trying, do you? Let's put it another way, Lewis doesn't seem bothered about losing.
"It's not like him. He has a competitive nature - but he's taking losing a bit easy for my liking. Lewis might sell his position to Toto. 'This is how much I am getting, I'll step down and give me half of what I would get.'
"Toto can go and do one of his magic deals, offer someone less money and keep £20m. Nobody needs to tell Toto this because he has already thought of it. Lewis would probably stop under those circumstances."
Hamilton's announcement that he was going to join Ferrari came at the start of the 2024 F1 season. He was not able to leave Mercedes quite how he would have liked, as a year of largely average finishes resulted in him finishing seventh, 22 points behind Russell.
During that campaign, Ecclestone suggested that Hamilton and Wolff may have given up on each other, with his inevitable exit to Ferrari hanging over their heads. However, despite his departure, Wolff showed his support and admiration for Hamilton during an appearance on the Bloomberg Hot Pursuit podcast in June.
He said: "You don't unlearn driving that quickly. In 2021 he was great, then the regulations changed, and it got a little bit more difficult, but he was still performing on a very high level.
"And just by changing teams, suddenly you don't lose your skills. I think everybody needs to have a period of adaptation.
"Different car, different DNA of how that vehicle drives, a new engineering team that you need to start to work together then be involved with the continuous development of the car so it suits your driving style. It's an all-Italian team; he's a British guy parachuted in there - and that takes time.
"Also, we have seen a little bit of a pattern that Lewis at the beginning of the season, he needs to find that mojo and then the second half of the season has been always very strong. So don't ever write Lewis Hamilton off."
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