Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff has revealed Carlos Sainz Sr was the individual who alerted him that Lewis Hamilton was negotiating a move to Ferrari for 2025.
Hamilton delivered a bombshell prior to the ongoing season beginning with the decision to activate a break clause in his Mercedes contract to sign a deal with Ferrari.
The Briton used his annual pre-season visit to Wolff’s house to tell his long-time team boss that his prolonged spell with the German outfit would be coming to an end.
However, Wolff has reiterated on numerous occasions that he sensed something was in the air regarding the seven-time F1 champion before that meeting took place.
The Austrian has disclosed that Sainz Sr, whose son Carlos will relinquish his drive at Ferrari to Hamilton, informed him weeks in advance about what was developing.
“So I heard the bells ringing two weeks before,” Wolff said on the High Performance podcast. “Yeah, the old man Sainz called me and said, this is what’s happening.
“And then there were a few drivers’ dads rang me up that didn’t before. So I thought, Okay…there’s something going on there.”
Wolff recalled that his reaction was to contact Ferrari counterpart Frederic Vasseur, whose absent response increased his suspicion that Sainz Sr’s claim was correct.
“Then I sent a text to Fred Vasseur saying: ‘You’re taking our driver?’ Didn’t get any response,” he continued.
“Very unusual for Fred. He’s a good friend. So yeah, I saw it coming.”
Williams approach Sainz in December
Wolff’s story matches Williams boss James Vowles’ revelation that he first approached Sainz last December, though he denies knowing about Hamilton’s Ferrari talks.
“I think the first thing is the conversation has been many months,” Vowles told media including Motorsport Week upon the news that Sainz will go to Williams in 2025.
“It hasn’t been weeks, of which you’ve been privy to some of it. But [it] actually started way back in Abu Dhabi last year.”
Wolff has had ‘worse’ in his life
Wolff has admitted that his main concern when the rumours were confirmed concerned dealing with Mercedes’ various sponsors and sorting Hamilton’s replacement.
“Well, I had much worse in my life, happening, like real drama and trauma,” he said. “This is not even moving the needle.”
He added: “It’s just a new situation. It has risks and opportunities, risks in the sense of how do I inform the sponsors as quickly as possible?
“Because it was leaking… And on the other side, what are we doing about next year?”
READ MORE – Toto Wolff claims Lewis Hamilton’s 2025 Ferrari F1 move will ‘help’ Mercedes
