Toto Wolff reveals why Mercedes 'like' fact Lewis Hamilton is leaving

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has revealed why Mercedes 'like' the fact that Lewis Hamilton is leaving them for Ferrari next year.

Hamilton shocked the Formula One world at the start of this year when he revealed he would be leaving the team that has helped him win six world championship titles for one of their rivals.

He signed a multi-year deal with Ferrari, and has three races remaining until he swaps his overalls and car to red and begins his partnership with Charles Leclerc at his new team.

It will bring an end to a 12-year relationship between Mercedes and seven-time world champion Hamilton, with the Brit having joined the set-up in 2013.

But it is a move that not only Hamilton but his boss, Wolff, is happy that is happening - and the Austrian explained why with a five-word message to his current driver.

'Everyone has a shelf life,' he told Inside Mercedes F1: Life in the Fast Lane author Matt Whyman, adding to: 'We're in a sport where cognitive sharpness is extremely important.

'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.

'[But] I like the situation. It helps us because it avoids the moment where we need to tell the sport's most iconic driver that we want to stop.'

Hamilton is now 39 and the second oldest driver on the grid for next year, behind former team-mate Fernando Alonso, who is 43.

He will be replaced at Mercedes by 18-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who is currently competing in Formula Two and will be making his debut in Formula One.

The teenager will team with George Russell, who is 26 and made the move to Mercedes in 2022. 

'I need to look at the next generation,' Wolff, who also joined Mercedes in 2013 said. 'It's the same in football.

'Managers like Sir Alex Ferguson or Pep Guardiola, they anticipated it in the performance of their top stars and brought in junior players that drove the team for the next years.'

Hamilton struggled in Brazil last time out in what has been a stop-start season, qualifying 16th and only managing to finish 10th.

He raised eyebrows after the race, when he told the team radio: 'That was a disaster of a weekend, guys. The worst the car has ever been. Thank you for contributing to try, and great job to all the guys at the pit-stop.

'If this is the last time I get to perform it was a shame it wasn't great - but grateful for you.'

It was the latest result in a run that has seen Hamilton struggle in the latter stages of the season, failing to find a podium in any of the last seven races.

He did win two races earlier on this season, but is down in seventh in the drivers championship, below Russell as well as the likes of Carlos Sainz, who he will replace at Ferrari. 

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Still, he is set to see out the remaining three races of the season in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi before turning parting ways with the team.

Hamilton is on the hunt for an illustrious eighth world title that would put him clear on the most titles ever won by a driver, ahead of Ferrari Michael Schumacher, who is also on seven.

Former Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone, however, has told Mail Sport's F1 Confidential that he doesn't think Hamilton can do it despite switching teams.

'I believe he won't,' said Ecclestone, who turned 94 last week. 'I don't think it will be easy for Lewis.

'Especially in that team. They will back Charles Leclerc. He's quick and has grown up there. They won't dump him for anyone.'