2 days Ago By Michelle
Lewis Hamilton is not letting Toto Wolff’s “shelf life” comment sour the end of their working relationship as his Mercedes team boss has already clarified his point. Hamilton will bid farewell to Mercedes at the end of this season having exercised an escape clause in his contract and instead signing a multi-year deal with Ferrari. Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock But while he went into his 12th and final season with the team with whom he has won six of his World titles wanting to end on a high note, of late it has been more of a whimper.
Although he brought his victory tally to 105 with wins at Silverstone and Spa, he has not even featured on the podium since the summer break and last time out in Brazil blasted his W15 as the “worst” it has ever been. Speculation of rising tension wasn’t helped by Wolff claiming in the recently-published Matt Whyman’s book ‘Mercedes F1: Life in the fast lane’ that “everyone has a shelf life”. He added of Hamilton’s decision to join Ferrari: “I like the situation.
It helps us because it avoids the moment where we need to tell the sport’s most iconic driver that we want to stop.” Wolff has since clarified his comments, telling BBC Radio 4 : “That was taken a little bit out of context. “What I was referring to is that all of us, we age, and whether it’s in the car, on a pitch, or as a manager and entrepreneur, you have to, and this is what I’m trying to do with myself, understand am I going from great to good.
Because good is not in Formula 1 anymore. “Now, contrary to my own self-assessment, I think we see with Lewis that he’s very much there when the car is right. And we haven’t been able to give him that car for him to perform best and that is a frustration that we equally have in the team and for himself.
“But he’s very sharp. He’s different to when he was a 20-year-old, that’s certainly clear. His experience and his race craft is tremendous.
” Hamilton was quizzed on what Wolff had said about him when he spoke with the media, including PlanetF1.com , ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend. “I don’t really have much,” he said.
“I spoke to Toto earlier. He said that he..
. “I have not seen the news if I’m honest up until this weekend, so I haven’t been keeping up to date with it. “I think he’s clarified his point, and you know Toto has been massively supportive over the years so it doesn’t really make any bearing on.
” 👉 Adversary to hero, the die-hard Tifosi will have to adapt to Lewis Hamilton’s arrival 👉 10 biggest sports deals in history: Where does Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari salary rank? The Briton also clarified a few comments that he made after a disappointing Brazilian Grand Prix. The seven-time World Champion scored a single point at the Interlagos circuit, stating after both qualifying and the Grand Prix that his car was the “worst” it had ever been. He told his team over the radio: “If this is the last time I get to perform it was a shame it wasn’t great but (I am) grateful for you.
” He later told the media: “If they give me a car that doesn’t bounce off the track in the next few races, then hopefully we can get a better result. But yeah, looking forward to Christmas.” All in all, that had pundits pondering whether Brazil was the end of the line for Hamilton and that he would sit out the final three races.
He clarified those comments, saying: “I mean, naturally, in the moment I didn’t feel great, obviously with that last race. “But obviously, I’ve had an amazing last week with lots of really great projects I’m working on, with the F1 movie. There’s a lot going on.
Obviously, I’ve got a collection here with Tyler The Creator. That’s what makes those things important, to be able to rebound from weekends like [Brazil]. “Heat of the moment, sure – I’d much rather be on the beach, chilling.
I don’t need to do this. “But I’m here, and I love this job still. I’m here to absolutely give it my all these last few races, and finish out strong, and that was always the plan.
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