Toto Wolff talking on Lewis Hamilton’s transfer to Ferrari | EUROtoday

Good morning! Hello and welcome to protection of Toto Wolff’s Mercedes press convention following Lewis Hamilton’s shock transfer to Ferrari.

The Austrian can be pressed by the media for the primary time because the announcement was made final night time.

Our senior sports activities correspondent Tom Cary revealed the swap a whole shock to Wolff, Mercedes crew principal. Telegraph Sport understands Hamilton blindsided Wolff at a pre-arranged assembly on the latter’s Oxford dwelling earlier than affirmation of the deal despatched Formula One into meltdown.

Will Wolff really feel betrayed? How do Mercedes plan to react? What precisely did Hamilton say to him?

Those are the questions we hope can be answered by Wolff.

In a press release, Hamilton mentioned: “I have had an amazing 11 years with this team and I’m so proud of what we have achieved together. Mercedes has been part of my life since I was 13 years old. It’s a place where I have grown up, so making the decision to leave was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. But the time is right for me to take this step and I’m excited to be taking on a new challenge. I will be forever grateful for the incredible support of my Mercedes family, especially Toto for his friendship and leadership and I want to finish on a high together. I am 100 per cent committed to delivering the best performance I can this season and making my last year with the Silver Arrows, one to remember.”

Wolff added: “In terms of a team-driver pairing, our relationship with Lewis has become the most successful the sport has seen, and that’s something we can look back on with pride; Lewis will always be an important part of Mercedes motorsport history. However, we knew our partnership would come to a natural end at some point, and that day has now come. We accept Lewis’s decision to seek a fresh challenge, and our opportunities for the future are exciting to contemplate. But for now, we still have one season to go, and we are focused on going racing to deliver a strong 2024.”