Wolff reveals Guardiola advice in Hamilton Mercedes exit

Toto Wolff has revealed how advice from Pep Guardiola was key in his reaction to Lewis Hamilton's decision to join Ferrari. 

The bombshell news that Hamilton would quit Mercedes and join Ferrari for 2025 was made public on the eve of the 2024 season in February, with the Briton exercising a break clause in the two-year deal he signed in summer '23.

Hamilton had previously signalled his intention to remain at Mercedes until he retired from F1, with the seven-time champion set to be replaced by rookie Italian racer Andrea Kimi Antonelli, with Wolff indicating that Carlos Sainz Sr had tipped him off about the move after his son was about to lose his seat to make way for Hamilton. 

Discussing his reaction to the news, Wolff detailed a conversation with Manchester City manager Guardiola, who is one of the most successful football managers in the world, with a total of 39 trophies won in spells with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City.

"I think if someone decides to go, then you need to let them go," Wolff told the High Performance Podcast. 

"I had a chat with Pep Guardiola a long time ago, he is a friend. 

"I said: 'What do you do if this or that player leaves?' and he said: 'What do you mean?', I said: 'Well, do you try and convince them to stay?'

"'No, if somebody thinks he can play better elsewhere or earn more, you've just got to let them go.'

"It is something I embrace in the same way here, if somebody wants to go, then lets make it as good as possible for each of the parties, so it then becomes about what happens next."

Antonelli to Mercedes

Wolff has previously said that he had made the decision to replace Hamilton with Antonelli within five minutes, but explained how he needed further validation from key people behind his decision. 

"There's an instinctive, internal response that I had with myself, and that was the opportunity for Kimi," he said.

"On the other side, there was an F2 season to go, lots of testing for Kimi, so you have to stand back and stay: 'Hold, on a minute, that is your instinctive reaction.'

"It is what is probably going to happen, but there could be breaking points where you should be rationally and logically acting and picking the brains of all the good people I work with at Mercedes. 

"I spoke with Markus [Schäfer, Mercedes-Benz board member] at Mercedes and Stuttgart and picking their brains is important before coming to a final conclusion.

"The decision was made with Ola [Kallenius, Mercedes-Benz CEO], Gwen [Lagrue] who runs our junior programme, [technical director] James Allison and [communications director] Bradley Lord just to confirm my first initial instinct."