Toto Wolff faces backlash from Lewis Hamilton fans for his comments in the new Mercedes book

F1 fans have expressed their annoyance and disappointment after Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff's thoughts on Lewis Hamilton's exit from the team in a new book were shared. The seven-time world champion's exit announcement from the German team at the beginning of the 2024 season had come as a shock to many in the F1 world.

The British driver has captured six of his seven driver's championships with the German brand, having joined the Bradley-based outfit in 2013. But he decided to switch to Ferrari, starting from 2025.

The move caught many unaware as Lewis Hamilton had signed a contract extension with Mercedes in August 2023 that would have seen him race for the team until the end of 2025.

The book "Inside Mercedes F1: Life in the Fast Lane" has a few words from Toto Wolff on the situation. Wolff reveals in the book that he had expected the 39-year-old to depart the team as "everyone had a shelf life". He is quoted in the book as saying,

"I like the situation (Lewis leaving for Ferrari). It helps us because it avoids the moment where we need to tell the sport’s most iconic driver that we want to stop. There’s a reason why we only signed a one-plus-one-year contract. We’re in a sport where cognitive sharpness is extremely important, and I believe everyone has a shelf life."

Following his comments being shared by a fan on X (formerly Twitter), F1 fans took to social media to share their reactions to Toto Wolff's comments on Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari.

Some fans expressed their disappointment at Wolff's comments.

"So disappointing from Toto but I’m not surprised, this guy has been treating lewis like a joke," said one fan

"This is quite disappointing to see from Toto," said another fan.

Here are some more fan reactions:

"I'm so glad Hamilton didn't allow himself to get played by Toto but did what's best for him when he had the chance," said a fan.

"This is extremely disrespectful in language used. Even if he meant it differently . George needs to circle the block and issue a “Watch your tone” message to Toto as well," said another fan.

"I’m gonna look at this positively, and say Toto is making it extremely easy for us to not root or care for that team once the flag drops in Abu Dhabi," wrote another fan.

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Mercedes team boss reflects on Lewis Hamilton's switch to Ferrari in new book

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said that Lewis Hamilton's switch to Ferrari was "on his radar" but acknowledged that he was caught off guard by the timing of the announcement.

He is quoted as saying in the book (via PlanetF1),

“I absolutely had it on my radar that Lewis would go. I just couldn’t understand why he’d change to another team before we knew if we were going to be competitive. It also didn’t give me any time to react.

"I had to emergency call our partners, and I possibly missed out on negotiating with other drivers who had signed contracts a few weeks earlier like Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris. It put us on the back foot, and that had a commercial impact. But do I take that personally? This was a business decision."

Lewis Hamilton signed a multi-year deal with the Italian team that will see him race for them until the end of 2026 at least, alongside Charles Leclerc. Kimi Antonelli will be driving for Mercedes as replacement for the British driver.