Harold Wilson, once prime minister of Britain, is famously quoted as saying when under pressure: “A week is a long time in politics.” Yet for Mercedes and Toto Wolff the last seven days in Formula One land must have felt like an eternity.

Wolff admits to being shocked at the timing of Hamilton’s announcement that he was leaving for Ferrari next year and admit have heard rumours Lewis was leaving days before he was told face to face.

 

 

 

 

Timing “hit us”

“The timing bit us a bit,” he said and the Mercedes boss recognises this will cause some chaos for Mercedes during the fast approaching new F1 season.

“OK, what are we doing about communications? What’s the timing? How do we protect the team best? And how do we protect this 2024 year to be successful together with our two drivers without causing too much awkwardness?” – all questions Wolff admits he is grappling with.

The most obvious question is who will replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes and the rumour mill has already begun. Reports emerged late last night that Fernando Alonso is out of contract and will be throwing his hat into the ring.

Spanish F1 insider Antonio Lobato says Hamilton’s departure from the Silver Arrows will inevitably result in Alonso talking to Wolff and the team.

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Alonso obvious Hamilton replacement

Speaking on the radio show “El Partidazo de COPE”, Lobato said: “Fernando Alonso will be obliged to talk to Mercedes. (Alonso signing for Mercedes) will depend a lot on how Aston Martin performs this year.”

Fernando Alonso is considered at 42 years of age to be at the peak of his powers and one of the most gifted F1 drivers on the grid. Claiming 6 podiums in the first seven races last year set Alonso on target to be best of the rest behind the Red Bull driver pairing. Yet Aston Martin faded towards the end of the year and Fernando conceded his P3 in the drivers’ championship to the now departing Lewis Hamilton.

Yet should Aston Martin come out of the blocks as they did last season, Mercedes may not be the most attractive place for Alonso to go. His Silverstone based team have a new wind tunnel coming on stream this season and will fully occupy their new £200m complex with estate of the art equipment and production facilities.

Given the life long and at times bitter rivalry between Alonso and Hamilton, it would be an attractive option for Toto Wolff to be seen replacing his departing star with his nemesis. Yet it could be Fernando prefers to remain loyal to billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll who is likely to be offering a huge pay rise to the Spaniard.

Sainz with Red Bull

 

 

 

Wolff admits Leclerc and Norris would have been targets

The timing of Hamilton’s announcement has not only made it difficult for team morale at a crucial point in the F1 calendar year, but Wolff admits it may have caused maximum damage to his hopes of replacing Hamilton with the preferred drivers Toto had on his list.

When quizzed on who the Briton’s eventual replacement might be, the Austrian strongly hinted that Norris and Leclerc would have been top targets. “A few contracts have been signed a few weeks ago that we would have looked at, that would have been interesting,” he said.

Yet as TJ13 argued at the time Norris extension with McLaren was announced, the new lengthy driver contracts the top drivers are receiving only makes it more likely they will be bought out of their commitments by a another team wanting their services. So Wolff’s preferred options are there, but it might cost Mercedes $50m to prise Lando from McLaren when in the old days he would have been free.

TJ13: Norris new deal signals seismic shift in F1 driver contracts

 

 

 

BOLD move suggested by Wolff

Wolff again referred to the timing of Lewis announcement hitting him hard whilst trying to put a positive spin on the old “change is good” chestnut.

“Timing here bit us a bit. I always like change because it provides you with opportunity… I’m really looking forward to making the right decision for the team, with my colleagues, for who is going to be in the seat next year. Maybe it’s a chance to do something bold.”

Whilst its early days Toto could be hinting the obvious names to replace Hamilton may not be in the final frame at all. This simplest deal would be to recruit the soon to be unemployed Carlos Sainz. The impressive Alex Albon who dragged Williams single handedly to P7 in last year’s championship is another obvious contender.

One possibility less obvious than the above would be for Mercedes to promote Mick Schumacher from his current role as reserve driver. Wolff signed him last year when he was dropped by Haas F1 from a full time drive in F1.

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The next ‘Max Verstappen’ in the wings

But Schumacher is no George Russell but his promotion to the team would provide some slack in terms of media expectations as they struggle to recover fro the failed two cars built under the current regulations. Yet Mick could be a stop gap measure for Mercedes as they wait for one of the most exciting proposects out there to find his feet in Formula Two.

Mercedes junior teenage sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli has just been placed in F2 at Prema, skipping competing in F3 all together. So its Antonelli who could be the “bold” move at which Toto Wolff hinted, though his learning curve in junior single seater international racing will be steep.

That said one of the greatest drivers of all time had an unorthodox router to F1 having just one year between finishing karting to arriving at the Toro Rosso team. Max Verstappen competed in just the Formula Three European series in 2014 before arriving at the top table of motorsport where he was an instant sensation.

Should Antonelli follow a similar path for Mercedes, hindsight will be kind on their split with Hamilton as the next big star may just have had his route into F1 opened up nicely.

READ MORE: Exposed: Toto Wolff misrepresented Hamilton contract