Toto Wolff’s “Slap in the Face” for Lewis Hamilton May Have Created the Greatest Dynasty in F1 History

Toto Wolff’s leadership came under heavy questioning earlier this year. Even in the third year of the ground-effect era, Mercedes hadn’t figured out their car. They seemed destined to doom, and the Austrian himself admitted that it was ‘fair’ to question his Team Principal role. In anticipation of the continually dismal performance, Lewis Hamilton ditched Mercedes for a historic Ferrari switch. However, F1TV presenter Will Buxton believes Wolff lost Hamilton months before, and it wasn’t a performance-related circumstance.

If it was purely performance-based, Ferrari is no better. The Scuderia cars have indeed outclassed Mercedes in the last three years, but their consistency was violently wavering. Yet, both drivers, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, felt privileged to drive in the iconic Scarlet Red. Hamilton, on the other hand, felt out of place with his technical suggestions not being taken into account by the team. Moreover, the contract extension he signed in 2023 (for ’24 and ’25) was a 1+1 instead of a confident 2-year deal.

This baffled Will Buxton. In a snippet from his appearance on the DRS: De Race Show podcast, when questioned about Hamilton’s Ferrari decision, Buxton replied, “…how you give a seven-time world champion a 1 + 1? That’s literally inviting him to leave. It’s a bit of a slap in the face, you know,” he added about Wolff’s decision.

Though the British F1 presenter resented Wolff choosing the 1+1 deal, he rejoiced because, out of it, F1’s biggest partnership would be born. “It’s a beautiful move,” he said about Hamilton’s Ferrari move. “The greatest driver… statistically the greatest driver in history moving to statistically the greatest team in history…what a moment, what a story. That’s Box Office. Whatever happens, that’s box office!” Buxton exclaimed.

While the consensus believes that the 7x champ will create a legendary new story with Ferrari, some stubborn critics don’t. But the Scuderia’s boss has silenced all of them at the Dutch GP.

Frederic Vasseur promises Lewis Hamilton’s “wild” side at Ferrari

In the last week of the summer break, Dutch racing driver Tom Coronel set social media ablaze. Though he acknowledged that Ferrari pulled off a “masterstroke” by signing Lewis Hamilton, he claimed that the Maranello outfit won’t succeed with him. “Ferrari can only become World Champions with Max, they won’t succeed with Hamilton,” he said, wildly adding, “He is second choice.”

The LH army jumped to their hero’s rescue, and Coronel got many earfuls on social media. Ahead of the Dutch GP, Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur rubbished all criticism, labeling Hamilton their “ideal” choice. The 56-year-old confidently added how he “never had any doubts” about the 7x champ, despite him not having won a single race after 2021.

“I always believed it was a question of motivation,” he further added. “As soon as he smells victory, he goes wild. For who knows how long he had Ferrari on his mind, he will give everything.” With only 9 races left before Hamilton shifts bases to Italy, the hype is only increasing. Ferrari’s increased pace in Zandvoort only means good news for him for 2025. Moreover, at 39, the Briton is performing better than ever. Toto Wolff has lost a gem and there is no way to recover from that.

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