Toto Wolff made a big revelation that the reason he didn't go on a full hot pursuit to bring back Hamilton after he told about his move to Ferrari was because of advice from his close friend Pep Guardiola. This year's biggest news was Lewis Hamiton moving to Ferrari after a 10-year-long partnership with the Mercedes team.
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He broke the two-year deal he signed with the Mercedes team. Even Toto Wolff didn't have any idea about Hamilton leaving for Ferrari. He was first told by Carlos Sainz Sr and then some of the Formula 1 drivers. Wolff tried to contact his friend Fred Vasseur who is the Team Principal of Ferrari about signing Hamilton. But he didn't get any response from him which is very unusual from Fred as Toto Wolff felt that way.
WATCH video here:
Imagine having Pep Guardiola and Toto Wolff in your ear while you're racing 😅🧠 pic.twitter.com/iMbuiN5Xfh
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) July 9, 2023
Pep Guardiola's Old Advice helped Toto
The Mercedes Team principal after hearing from Hamilton about his exit didn't force the Briton to stay because of one valid advice he got from his friend and Football legend Pep Guardiola. Lewis Hamilton was seen to be retiring from the Mercedes team as it gave him 6 world titles.
“I trust you, I promise” 😂😂
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 23, 2022
When Toto took @ManCity manager Pep Guardiola for an epic hot lap around @ymcofficial 👏👏👏pic.twitter.com/W7UPuYBNVw
Wolff said Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola’s advice helped him to come out of the situation. He said “I think if someone decides to go, then you need to let them go. 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 replied ‘What do you mean?’, I said ‘Well, do you try and convince them to stay?’ He said ‘No, if somebody thinks he can play better elsewhere or earn more, you've just got to let them go’.” Toto Wolff says the football manager's words still run in his head and it helped him to decide after Hamilton said he would leave Mercedes to Ferarri.
Wolff added, “It is something I embrace in the same way here if somebody wants to go, then let's make it as good as possible for each of the parties, so it then becomes about what happens next.” He also said it helped Mercedes as a team as every driver has a shelf life and it was better for Hamilton to leave Mercedes than to tell him to leave.
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