Toto Wolff admits looking at the performance of Lewis Hamilton during the F1 Australian GP alongside George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
After just over a decade together, Mercedes and Hamilton parted ways ahead of 2025 season, with the Brit joining arch rivals Ferrari to see-through his career’s final leg. It came as a shock to Wolff, who held a great relationship with the seven-time champion – they still do despite being rivals.
The Australian GP was their first F1 race as rivals and one where Hamilton only managed 10th when Mercedes ended up third and fourth in a solid first round. The Brit still is learning to be with the Italian outfit, as can be adjudged by the radio messages shared between him and his race engineer.
Post-race, when Wolff was asked how the team felt without Hamilton in their first race, the Austrian admitted to be keeping an eye on the Brit and how he was performing. Although, he realised that they are not together anymore, but the lingering effect remains of their time together.
“When I was looking at the screens, at times, I looked at it as if we had three drivers,” said Wolff to media. “Because I was looking at RUS, I was looking at ANT, and I was looking at HAM. “And then you realise ‘well HAM is actually with Ferrari, and it’s not with us anymore.’
“It was such a long time, it’s logical. You cannot just say he’s gone and you don’t care anymore. I very much care how he’s doing, but obviously on track, he’s the competition and we need to beat the competition,” summed up Wolff, who remains cautious of their pace especially against McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari, despite sitting second in the standings with same points as McLaren.
Here’s Mercedes trio on how Australian GP was
Here’s Ferrari on missed opportunity in Australian GP
