Toto Wolff: Lewis Hamilton exit “could have been borderline hostile”

Toto Wolff has explained how he and Lewis Hamilton have maintained their close friendship despite Hamilton’s exit from Mercedes for Ferrari

Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff has detailed how he and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton have managed to maintain their friendship following the driver's exit from the team.

Wolff admitted that it could have been "borderline hostile," after Hamilton announced that he would be leaving the team at the end of 2024 to join Ferrari, but they keep in close contact. The British driver even still visits the team on most race weekends, and they often travel together with George Russell and Valtteri Bottas.

“When he decided to go, it could have been very awkward, borderline hostile, and we actively talked about how to not make it that," Wolff explained to the Wall Street Journal.

"All of us made a real effort in trying to be very accommodating, very understanding. He’s maintained being a friend. He pops up in the office on the weekend! He speaks with the engineers, gets some food. After many grands prix, he travels back with me. So we have the old gang: Valtteri Bottas, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, and me flying from the races.”

After 12 races of the 2025 season, just 12 points separate Ferrari and Mercedes in the constructors' championship in second and third position. Although the battle between the two teams is heating up on track, Wolff confirmed that he and Hamilton are able to keep the racing to one side.

“Listen, on the racetrack, we want to beat you. No doubt about that. But it’s been 12 years that we have been in this relationship. We trust each other,” Wolff added.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1st position, and Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes AMG, celebrate after the race

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

In a somewhat unusual turn in the interview, Wolff briefly discussed the seven-time champion's dating life, which he manages to keep private.

“I’m living a different life through his eyes - you know, he shows me his flirts and who he dates, and [asks], ‘Should I go for this girl or not?’ And I’m saying, ‘Yes, you should, and tell me how it was.'"

At the halfway point of his first season with Ferrari, Hamilton sits sixth in the drivers' standings with 103 points, 131 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri and 16 points behind his team-mate Charles Leclerc.