Hamilton braced for difficult conversations with Wolff

Lewis Hamilton has acknowledged he will soon be forced to engage in conversations with Toto Wolff over his Mercedes exit.

Hamilton will depart the Brackley-based squad at the end of the season, bringing the curtain down on his highly successful tenure with the team.

The seven-time world champion will join forces with Ferrari, replacing Carlos Sainz at the Italian outfit in 2025.

Hamilton is set to be phased out of engagements and briefings relating to the 2025 Mercedes challenger to stop him from carrying over secrets to his new team.

“I mean at some stage I will have to, it will start with a conversation with Toto, because I don’t know how to navigate [it],” Hamilton told media including RacingNews365 when asked about talks over his future.

“I’ve never been in this position before at this point in the year.

“When I was leaving McLaren it was towards the end of the season, I didn’t go to Mercedes until December, I had my first seat fit when the season was done, so I imagine [it will be] the same here.

“I’m not quite sure how to navigate it, but right now I want to finish on a high here, so all my energy is going into this.”

Finishing on a high

Hamilton has endured a difficult start to the 2024 season, scoring just 10 points across the opening four rounds.

Although Hamilton will part ways with the team at the end of the year, the Briton has assured that he is determined to turn Mercedes’ form around before he leaves.

“Of course, there’s excitement about the future but right now we’re going through a difficult phase and that’s my challenge,” he said.

“All my energy is going to try and figure out how we can get ourselves back to the top, how can we work with the guys, how can we, in the debriefs, give them better direction.

“I’m a competitor, I want to win, and thinking about next year is not going to help me do that.”