Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has quashed any rumours he is planning to replace Lewis Hamilton. The Brit was left heartbroken after a record eighth world title was snatched away from him in such a controversial manner at the end of the last campaign.
Following the contentious events in the closing stages of the Abu Dhabi GP last December, Hamilton took a two-month absence from all forms of media, leaving many to suspect he had walked away from the sport and the silver arrows were looking to fill his seat. One of the names put through the rumour mill as a future Hamilton replacement has been Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, but team principal Wolff made it abundantly clear that those reports, and any other reports for that matter, were untrue.
“It’s a complete bull****,” Wolff said emphatically during an interview with the Italian branch of Motorsport.com. “I never called Sergio, he’s a good guy and I respect him, but I never talked to him and I was not in contact with any other driver.
“Lewis and I, even in the face of a not-so-encouraging scenario like the beginning of this season, we are always aligned in wanting to try to make things better and to be together next year. And we’ve been telling each other for a couple of months that we could go on, maybe five or 10 years, right? So none of that is true.”
The pair’s thoughts have been far from focused on parting ways, with the Austrian suggesting Hamilton could race well into his 40s as he chases another world title. “We've been telling each other for a couple of months that we could go on, maybe five or 10 years, right?' he said. “None of that [the rumours] is true.”
Mercedes have enjoyed an unparalleled period of dominance over much of the last decade, winning eight consecutive constructors crowns and six drivers titles since 2014. Since the new cars and regulations were introduced in 2022, however, it has been a significantly more challenging campaign as Mercedes have yet to register a race win.
However, the team have made great strides over the last few races and seem to be edging closer to an elusive victory this season. During an interview with the Financial Times, Wolff revealed how he studied Premier League side Manchester United to avoid a decline with his own team.
The Red Devils dominated English football under Sir Alex Ferguson, winning a record 13 Premier League titles, and three consecutive titles on two separate occasions, along with two Champions League crowns. But since his retirement in 2013, United have not tasted success in the Premier League or the Champions League and failed to finish inside the top four on five occasions.
Keen to avoid a smiler demise with Mercedes, Wolff said: “I studied why great teams were not able to repeat great title [runs]," said Wolff. "No sports team in any sport has ever won eight consecutive World Championship titles and there are many reasons for that, and what is at the core is the human.
"The human gets complacent. You are not energised in the same way you were before. You are maybe not as ambitious. I often get the question: 'How hard is that?' I had so many periods, so many episodes in my life that I would judge as difficult, that this is not on the same scale. I don't think it's challenging in a way because I've had much harder times in all of my life, not particularly in Formula One, but this is actually within my comfort zone."
