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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is clear that he and Lewis Hamilton “are not done” with Formula 1, despite speculation about their future after the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Wolff is weighing a new role within the Mercedes F1 team as he reflects on a long-term succession plan, while Hamilton said Sunday night that there was “no guarantee” that he would compete next year.
Speaking to reporters in Imola about Wolff’s future and the impact his departure would have on the team, Hamilton had said: “I don’t even know if I’ll be here next year so it’s not a concern for me at the moment. .
“We have a lot of deep conversations, Toto and I, so I’m very aware of where he is mentally, and I think we share a lot and carry a lot of weight together.
“I’ve been here for a long, long time. I can definitely understand that he wants to go back a bit and give more time to family and that kind of thing.”
Comments from Hamilton, who doubted his own place at Mercedes, sparked talk that he might surprise the sport and drop out after claiming a seventh drivers’ world championship that equals this year’s record.
But Wolff has insisted that there should be no doubts about his future or that of Hamilton, as he said that their future would be fixed together.
“I think we go together in a way,” Wolff said.
“We have a symbiosis and it is obviously important where our hearts and minds are for next year.
“But I’ve said this is my team. I’m in a very proud corner with Mercedes and I’m not going anywhere.
“My role may change in the future, and it is something that is asked of him and I believe that nothing is certain.
“It was like Niki Lauda in the 1970s: you could wake up one morning on a Friday or Saturday morning on a track and say, ‘I’m not having fun anymore.’ And I think that can happen to anyone.
“But we want to continue this journey, we are not finished. Lewis, myself and the whole team, we are not finished.”
While neither Hamilton nor his team boss have a contract for next season at such a late stage of the year, Wolff said the delay in both deals is simply due to the team wanting to focus on closing both world titles, with Mercedes securing a seventh consecutive constructors’ crown that broke records at Imola.
“With Mercedes and I, we are quite clear: it is just about putting the pen on the paper at the right time,” he said.
“I also focused on bringing these championships home and I always feel bad spending days with lawyers and M&A people, when I’m so focused on what’s going on down the road.”[mergersandacquisitions)peoplewhenI’msofocusedonjustwhat’shappeningontrack[mergersandacquisitions)peoplewhenI’msofocusedonjustwhat’shappeningontrack
“I think this is where Lewis and I are very similar. I just didn’t feel like the right time to sit down before those championships weren’t done.”
“And there will be a time when the drivers’ championship will be decided, to sit down. And we have a few months before the first race in Australia happens.”
