Breaking news
Formula 1
Hamilton believes Wolff shouldn't run Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is the best manager in Formula 1, but the world champion suggests that sport should be run by a neutral rather than someone previously associated with a team.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Jun 27, 2019, 3:59 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Wolff has been tipped as a leading candidate to replace Chase Carey as F1's CEO, should the American leave when his contract runs out.
Read Also:
Hamilton, who gained an extra insight into how the sport is run when he attended a recent meeting in Paris about 2021 regulations, says that it would be difficult for anyone not to retain a soft spot for a former employer.
"I don't believe there's a better manager than Toto within the whole of F1," said Hamilton. "However, sitting back as a fan, when you sit in the room with people who ultimately have to make decisions, we as humans are I think – this is just my opinion – we can be biased.
"You've got Jean Todt, I know Jean's level, but the fact is he's been with the red team for so long, so surely when he wakes up if there's a red T-shirt and a silver T-shirt, he probably goes for a red one. You know what I mean? Just like I get out of bed, I see 44 or I see number six, I will go for number 44!
"And Toto has been Mercedes through and through for such a long period of time. I don't know if there's anything in that.
"But if it's a choice of management, I think he would be the best, but I think in the best scheme of things it's someone from outside, who's neutral, if there can be someone who's completely neutral, who doesn't know about Ferrari."
Asked to elaborate on what he learned at the Paris meeting, Hamilton said that the teams have too much influence.
"I think ultimately the FIA, they're the governing body, they need to make all the decisions. The teams shouldn't be involved in that, in my opinion, because the teams all want to do something for themselves. They won't like me saying that, but ultimately that's the natural thing.
"It would be the same if all the football teams were sat in a room and said the sport should be like this. They would push and pull for their own benefit. Whereas if you get a central group of people, intelligent, like the FIA for example, their sole job with Liberty is to make the sport great again.
"Whether that means hiring individuals or whatever. But they should have the power and just make the decisions. Currently if they were to do that they don't always necessarily have the right answers."
Hamilton admitted to some frustration when talk in the Paris meeting turned to further increasing the minimum car weight in 2021.
"You sit there and they're talking about making the car heavier, and it baffles me. Why are you going to make the car heavier?
"The car is already 130kgs heavier or whatever it is than when I first got to the sport, and what they don't know is we've got the best brakes you can possibly have, they're as great as they can be, and they're overheating and they're fading, so the braking zones aren't great.
"If you put the car another 30kgs heavier, it's just going to get worse for the brakes and the car, and you have to do more lift and coasting, you have to do more fuel saving, all these different things, it just has a knock-on domino effect. But now with the drivers in there, maybe there'll make a lot of noise."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Red Bull wouldn't "lose face" with Kvyat return - Tost
Next article F1 cost cap could be lowered after five years - Racing Point
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
Lewis Hamilton
Oscar Piastri on his Singapore puncture: “Ironically, it probably helped”
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Oscar Piastri on his Singapore puncture: “Ironically, it probably helped”
Why Ferrari caved in to Lewis Hamilton’s failed Singapore F1 gamble
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Why Ferrari caved in to Lewis Hamilton’s failed Singapore F1 gamble
More from
Mercedes
‘I’ll put a pillow under his butt’ – How Toto Wolff wants to solve Kimi Antonelli’s track limits problem
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
‘I’ll put a pillow under his butt’ – How Toto Wolff wants to solve Kimi Antonelli’s track limits problem
George Russell calls Red Bull "the team to beat" in F1, but Kimi Antonelli adds a key caveat
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
George Russell calls Red Bull "the team to beat" in F1, but Kimi Antonelli adds a key caveat
Latest news
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
2 h
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
5 h
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 7 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
8 h
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe