Toto Wolff shares private chat with Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes boss left frustrated

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed a text exchange with Lewis Hamilton after the Ferrari driver left his team for a new chapter at Maranello. The Austrian executive maintains that he is "proud" of the relationship he has kept with his seven-time world champion former colleague, but was left baffled by some decisions.

Wolff himself was shellshocked and only found out moments before the rest of the world that Hamilton had made the bombshell call to leave Mercedes after 12 years, for fierce rivals Ferrari. Soon after the announcement, Hamilton was paraded in Italy in a dream pairing alongside Charles Leclerc.

And Wolff could not believe that Hamilton's new team had put him in a suit to welcome the driver to his new home.

"Obviously that first photo in front of the Enzo (Ferrari) house, that was, 'OK, this is real...'" Wolff told The Athletic, adding he was "upset in a funny way that he wore a suit and I told him, 'It's unbelievable, 12 years and I failed to put you in a suit!'"

The team boss revealed that he and his wife, Susie, still spend time together with Hamilton away from the racetrack.

"I'm very proud of how we've kept the relationships even when it was tough, celebrated the 12 years that we had together, the longest relationship between a driver and the team, and the most successful one," Wolff continued. "We went out of this as great friends, trusting friends, even though he's in a red garage now and not in a black one anymore."

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Hamilton is still searching for his first podium with Ferrari in a disappointing season, one in which he has called on the new team to abandon hope in 2025 and focus on next year's vehicle.

Mercedes are pooling resources to 2026, but are not certain who will be driving their car.

George Russell has stepped into Hamilton's shoes as a team leader, with Wolff describing him: "It was never like (George) was the puppy."

In terms of competing alongside the likes of Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen at the top of the grid, Wolff claimed that drivers can be "victims of the performance of the car."

He explained further: "But I think we have a pretty good understanding of who we deem as being the best ones. And there aren't many."