Lewis Hamilton: Toto Wolff sends a warning to raft the Ferrari driver after Mercedes Switch | F1 News

Toto Wolff believes that he is reckless for anyone to raft Lewis Hamilton in the middle of the first difficult half-season of his former driver in Ferrari.

In the middle of the disappointing season of Ferrari 2025, Hamilton has not yet recorded a podium in his first prize for the 10 adults for his new team since his departure from Mercedes de Wolff at the end of last season. The Charles Leclerc teammate has recorded three top three so far and leads Hamilton – the best results of which have come in the two sprints – by 25 points in the classification.

But Wolff, whose team has rewritten the records with seven times Hamilton world champion in 12 seasons at Mercedes, thinks that an adaptation period for the British driver in his new environment is only natural.

“You do not know how to drive so quickly,” said the director of the Mercedes team in an interview with the Bloomberg Hot pursuit podcast.

“In 2021, it was great, then the regulations changed, and it became a little more difficult, but it still happened at a very high level.

“And just by changing your team, you do not suddenly lose your skills.

“I think everyone needs to have an adaptation period. Different car, different DNA of how this vehicle drives, a new engineering team that you should start working together, then be involved in continuous development on the car so that it is suitable for your driving style.

“It’s an Italian team; He is a British guy who has parachuted in there – and it takes time.

“In addition, we saw a small reason that Lewis at the start of the season, he needs to find that Mojo and then the second half of the season have always been very strong.

“So never write Lewis Hamilton.”

‘You always miss a person like Lewis Hamilton’

Hamilton and Wolff have become a most famous and successful partnership of the Bost-Conductor driver, the Briton winning six of his seven pilot championships while he was in the Arrows Silver and the team claiming an eight unprecedented manufacturers’ championships.

This is the first season that joined Mercedes in 2013 that Wolff did not work with Hamilton, and the Austrian said: “You must always miss a person like Lewis Hamilton.

“We are always close friends. We gave ourselves that we will remain close friends.

“We are fighting hard on the right track with the gloves because we have to fight for our respective teams and this is the kind of rule that we have. But off the track, we spend a little time with each other, we travel with each other, and I don’t want to miss the friend I have for many years.

“The longest driver’s relationship, 12 years old – you rarely see that in any other sport. And when it comes to developing the car, obviously, he has a lot of experience, he has seen everything and replace someone like Lewis Hamilton will always be difficult.”

Wolff draws the example of Piastri in the Antonelli evaluation

George Russell playing the role of senior driver of Mercedes after the departure of Hamilton, the Brackley team chose to seek in the future for her other seat and promoted the Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli at the highest level of motorsport.

The 18 -year -old Italian has already succeeded two significant stages in F1 – a young girl in Miami Sprint in May, then a first podium a fortnight ago in a Canadian general practitioner won by Russell – when there were also inevitably a few more difficult weekends so far in his beginners campaign.

When he was asked how long he thought he would probably need a young driver like Antonelli to reach the top of their game in F1, Wolff replied: “It has changed in recent years because it is so difficult to manage the tires.

“It is not only a question of speed – how much can you go in a single round or in a race – but by nourishing the tires to drive as quickly as possible at the same time not to slide them and not to overheat them because you waste tons of time on the turn. It is the limitation of young pilots to come.

“A good example is Piastri, who heads the championship. It took him a year and a half to catch up with Lando Norris and it was the first year that he has an advantage over him and I think that tire management.

“With Kimi, he does not know all the circuits. It was the first time in Montreal, so you start with a massive drawback, but the car was good and it could be fast.

“But you should probably look at the three -year program and say that it is the moment when he needs for a young driver to challenge your more experienced teammates, who are also super fast. I mean, George today is among the best drivers of Formula 1. This is something you need to give them, time.”

Austrian GP schedule of Sky Sports F1

Thursday June 26
2 p.m.: Pilot press conference

Friday June 27
8:50 am: F3 Practical
10 am: F2 Practical
12 noon: Austrian GP practices one (the session starts at 12:30 p.m.) *
1:55 p.m.: F3 Qualify *
2:50 p.m.: F2 Qualification *
3:35 p.m.: Austrichia GP practices two (the session starts at 4 p.m.) *
5:15 p.m.: The show F1 *

Saturday June 28
9 am: F3 Sprint
11:15 p.m.: Austrichia GP practices three (the session starts at 11:30 am)
1:10 p.m.: F2 Sprint
2:15 p.m.: Austrian GP qualification accumulation *
3 p.m.: Austrian GP qualification *
5 p.m.: Ted’s qualification book

Sunday June 29
7:25 am: F3 functionalities race
8:55 am: F2 functionality breed
10:40 am: Porsche Supercup
12:30 p.m.: Grand Prix Sunday: Austria GP Build-Up *
2 p.m.: The Austrian Grand Prix *
4 p.m.: Checkered flag: Austrian GP reaction *
5 p.m.: Ted’s notebook

* Also on the main event of Sky Sports

The next step for the Formula 1 2025 season is a return to Europe for the Austrian Grand Prix, which is live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Stream Sky Sports with now – no contract, cancel at any time.