Good morning! Hello and welcome to coverage of Toto Wolff’s Mercedes press conference following Lewis Hamilton’s shock move to Ferrari.
The Austrian will be pressed by the media for the first time since the announcement was made last night.
Our senior sports correspondent Tom Cary revealed the switch a complete shock to Wolff, Mercedes team principal. Telegraph Sport understands Hamilton blindsided Wolff at a pre-arranged meeting at the latter’s Oxford home before confirmation of the deal sent Formula One into meltdown.
Will Wolff feel betrayed? How do Mercedes plan to react? What exactly did Hamilton say to him?
Those are the questions we hope will be answered by Wolff.
In a statement, Hamilton said: “I have had an amazing 11 years with this team and I’m so proud of what we have achieved together. Mercedes has been part of my life since I was 13 years old. It’s a place where I have grown up, so making the decision to leave was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. But the time is right for me to take this step and I’m excited to be taking on a new challenge. I will be forever grateful for the incredible support of my Mercedes family, especially Toto for his friendship and leadership and I want to finish on a high together. I am 100 per cent committed to delivering the best performance I can this season and making my last year with the Silver Arrows, one to remember.”
Wolff added: “In terms of a team-driver pairing, our relationship with Lewis has become the most successful the sport has seen, and that’s something we can look back on with pride; Lewis will always be an important part of Mercedes motorsport history. However, we knew our partnership would come to a natural end at some point, and that day has now come. We accept Lewis’s decision to seek a fresh challenge, and our opportunities for the future are exciting to contemplate. But for now, we still have one season to go, and we are focused on going racing to deliver a strong 2024.”