Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has opened up on details surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s shock move to Ferrari – and how he got an early tip-off from Carlos Sainz Sr.

Hamilton told Wolff during a visit to his house at the end of January that he would be activating an exit clause in his Mercedes contract and joining Ferrari for the 2025 season.

But while Hamilton’s announcement was the first official confirmation that Wolff had of his driver’s departure, he has now spoken at length about how he had been alerted to the prospect for a little while.

Speaking to the High Performance podcast, Wolff said that an initial call from Sainz Sr., father of the Ferrari driver Carlos that Hamilton is replacing, had been where he first got word that something was in the offing.

“So I heard the bells ringing two weeks before,” said Wolff. “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.

“And then I sent a text to [Ferrari boss] Fred Vasseur saying: ‘You’re taking our driver?’ Didn’t get any response. Very unusual for Fred. He’s a good friend. So yeah, I saw it coming.”

With his suspicion about the intention of Hamilton’s visit to his house, Wolff also revealed that he threw a curveball into their chat by first telling the seven-time champion about Mercedes having signed former Ferrari chief designer Simone Resta.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG, with Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

“When Lewis arrived in the house, like he did so many years before, we had a bit of a small talk, like we always do about the Christmas holidays and all of that,” explained Wolff.

“Then I said, “Well, we’re recruiting from Ferrari now. We got this guy.” And Lewis was, “Oh, there’s something I need to tell you.” And yeah, when he said that, that initial moment was a little bit of… so this is really happening?”

When news of Hamilton’s Ferrari decision was made public, it became one of the biggest shock news events of recent F1 history.

But Wolff said that he was able to deal with the situation in quite a calm manner.

“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?”

Wolff also made it clear that there was no temptation from his side to try to persuade Hamilton to change his mind.

“I think if someone decides to go, then you need to let them go,” he said. “I had a chat with Pep Guardiola a long time ago, and he is a friend. I said, ‘What do you do if this and that player leaves?’ And he said, ‘What do you mean I do?’ I said, ‘Well, do you try to convince them to stay?’

“He said: ‘No, if somebody thinks he can play elsewhere better or earns more – you have just got to let them go.’ And it is something that I embrace in the same way here. Somebody wants to go – then let’s make it as good as possible for each of the parties.”

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Jorge Martin feels he and Pramac have been fighting “against the world” in MotoGP this year, with his rival Francesco Bagnaia racing for a factory Ducati team that is “built to win”.

Martin is on the verge of winning the MotoGP world title having carved out a 24-point lead with just 37 on offer in next week’s Barcelona season finale.

Satellite teams have traditionally been at a massive disadvantage with respect to factory squads in the past, but Ducati has overhauled the way bike manufacturers compete in MotoGP in the last few years by forging a closer relationship with teams it supplies bikes to.

As part of its new methodology, Martin is contracted directly to Ducati and rides the same specification of GP24 as Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini in the factory team, thus offering him parity of equipment.

However, while the lines between satellite and factory teams have become blurred in recent years, Pramac remains an independent outfit and doesn’t have the same resources as that of a manufacturer.

It’s why the significance of winning a title against a factory rider is not lost on Martin, who could wrap up the championship as early as the sprint race in Barcelona.

“He’s in a different moment, he’s been in MotoGP for six years, he’s in an official team, he has everything, his environment, ready to win,” said the Spaniard.

“I have a team of 12 people who fight alone against the world, and with that to achieve what we have achieved, seven sprint [wins], three victories and 30 podiums [15 in races and another 15 in sprints], I can’t ask for more.

“[The success] is not because of me, it’s because of my people, my environment, my team, all the people around me, I just want to achieve it for them, so that they can enjoy it, that’s what fills me [with joy] and excites me.”

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Bagnaia has established himself as one of the best riders of the generation after winning back-to-back titles in 2022 and ’23 with Ducati.

The Italian has put up a strong fight against Martin this year, winning 10 of the 19 grands prix so far and scoring six further victories in the sprints.

Martin stressed that winning the 2024 title would carry extra value just because he would have defeated an in-form – if error-prone – Bagnaia to the crown.

“It is a pride to reach this point of the season fighting for the championship,” he said. “It’s a pride to have a rival like Bagnaia, because this makes me better.

“That Pecco is at his highest level and being able to fight with him, to be able to push him to the limit, makes what we are both doing more valuable.

“I’ve won seven times this year, true, but it will be very difficult in the last grand prix to beat a Pecco in the form he is in now.

“We’ll see how the weekend develops, it will be in colder conditions, which usually suits me better. With a lot of heat it’s a perfect condition for Bagnaia. There will be more chances of failing in lower temperatures, but the risk will be the same for both of us.

“It’s always difficult to play for a title in the last event, anything can happen. But I arrive confident and believing that I can achieve it.”

The recent changes to Formula 1’s technical regulations for 2026 will give teams more freedom to explore different design concepts, says Williams chief James Vowles.

Recently, the rules prescribing F1’s new car designs for 2026 have been tweaked following concerns that the new generation of cars would be too slow.

The new cars, which will be paired to overhauled engine regulations with a bigger reliance on electric energy, will have significantly less drag and wake turbulence to improve the racing, but the latest version of the rules has increased the amount of downforce they will generate to bring cornering speeds closer to current levels.

The FIA relaxed limitations around the front wing area and the front floor, with scope to add bargeboards, and the size of the diffuser has been increased compared to the draft that was presented to teams in June and received mixed reviews.

The changes were welcomed by the teams, not just because of the increase in performance but because there will now be more freedom for designers to explore different concepts. That could lead to cars that are visibly much more different across the grid compared to the current generation of ground-effect-based machinery, where teams soon converged on very similar concepts.

“We now have more freedom where you could see a different direction that you’re going in,” Vowles said. “So there’s more flow controlling devices in place, which lead to downforce, but differentiation between teams. What’s been really positive as well is there’s still some small areas of improvement around the diffuser.

“What’s great to see is teams in F1 working hand-in-hand in order to improve that, because every time you make a change like that, it has some consequences.

“I think what you’re going to see now is instead of all teams working in the same few millimetres, there’ll be some different concepts. I personally think that is good for the sport.”

F1 2026 FIA car renders

Photo by: FIA

Vowles’ McLaren counterpart Andrea Stella also felt giving engineers more freedom will lead to a bigger spread of designs.

“With the recent release of the car geometry, especially from an aerodynamic point of view, basically two main things have been achieved,” he explained. “One is a much higher downforce level, and the second one is more freedom. We welcome both.

“We welcome more freedom. I think this will give teams the possibility to just use their knowledge, use their methodologies. The knowledge that has been accrued over the years, even if with different regulations, is a way of creating some differentiation.

“So, we’ve always been advocating this kind of approach and we welcome the fact that there will be more freedom.”

Formula 1 has had a shaky relationship with American drivers. Despite Liberty Media’s extensive efforts to capture the $69 billion US sports market, the historically Euro-centric sport hasn’t produced a competitive American driver this century. Jak Crawford, the highest ranked American in the pipeline to F1, hopes he can change that.

The 19-year-old, raised on the go-kart tracks of Texas, has secured two wins and 10 podiums throughout his Formula 2 career, currently racing for DAMS Lucas Oil. “It’s crazy to think I’m the closest American to F1,” Crawford told Motorsport.

“Americans want to see a driver who’s winning and doing really well for their country, so that’s my goal. I have a great opportunity to become the American driver [if] I’m able to do it.” 

Crawford is currently fifth place in the F2 standings — ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Ollie Bearman who are bound for F1 seats with Mercedes and Haas, respectively, next season. “Being ahead of them in the championship gives me confidence and reassurance that I could do that too if I get the chance,” he said. Crawford had also surpassed Argentina’s Franco Colapinto in F2 standings, who was called up to F1 by Williams over the summer. “I’m looking forward to getting that chance one day to show what I can do,” he added confidently. 

There’s a myriad of factors that have led to the 46-year drought since an American last stood on the top step of an F1 podium (Mario Andretti claimed victory at the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix). Above all, the ladder to F1 is virtually impossible to climb without relocating to Europe as a teenager. 

Crawford, for his part, moved to England by himself at 14 to follow the well-worn European developmental path. “It was eye-opening for sure. You don’t realize how much you don’t know until you’re asking your mom how to work the dishwasher,” the softly-spoken Texan said with a laugh. Signing a five-year deal with the Red Bull Driver Academy in 2019, he secured a fully-financed seat in Formula 4. Before that, his karting career was funded by his dad, Tim, who thought the youngster was destined for a career in NASCAR. That was until Helmut Marko, godfather of the illustrious junior program, offered Crawford a life-changing contract. 

“It was great at the beginning. The academy gave me a great path and helped me chase my dreams, especially when I started in F4,” he reflected. However, the relationship “fizzled out” over the years, many of which were fraught by the COVID-19 pandemic and fierce competition within the academy. 

Graduates of the notoriously cut-throat program, including Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, have spoken about the pressures placed on them by Marko. Crawford said he was given only one directive by the famed talent spotter: “win the championship.” 

“I realised there was no path for me into a race seat [with Red Bull],” Crawford explained. “There were too many guys – a lot of really good ones – so I figured it was best that I left.” He went on to join the Aston Martin Development Program, where he’s eyeing a 2025 reserve role with the team and, if all goes to plan, a 2026 race seat.

Crawford has already started learning from veterans of the sport within Aston Martin. “I’ve been able to learn so much from Fernando [Alonso], mainly off-track, just listening to him in engineering meetings,” he said of the two-time World Champion. “It’s great to hear what he and Lance [Stroll] say about the car and the language they use because I’m able to apply that to my work with my [F2] team.” 

Jak Crawford, Development Driver, Aston Martin F1 Team

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

F1’s explosion in popularity in the early 2020s has shone a spotlight on the young drivers in the sport’s development series, who were once largely unknown outside of hardcore motorsport circles.

“It’s grown massively, especially with people my age,” Crawford said, referencing the significantly younger demographic who are not only tuning into races, but also engaging with content on social media. “As I’ve gotten closer to the top, I’ve started getting more followers and likes,” he went on, noting his 57,000-strong Instagram following has allowed him to grow his personal brand. 

He’s also acutely aware that his country is eager to see one of their own succeed at the pinnacle of racing. However, Liberty Media’s fervent pursuit of American fandom [read: American dollars] doesn’t mean Americans have been fully embraced within the paddock just yet. Michael Andretti’s bid to join the grid was rejected by the sport’s management arm earlier this year, sparking an antitrust investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Meanwhile, Florida native Logan Sargeant was unceremoniously dumped by Williams mid-season, bringing the American’s F1 career to an abrupt end. 

With the sport booming, there has never been a stronger financial incentive to invest in an American driver. Williams took that gamble with Sargeant, but inconsistent results and a spate of costly crashes may have left teams wary about hiring an American without strong performances to back up their marketability.

Crawford is focused on proving that a U.S. driver can thrive in the sport, though the path to success remains steep. His next step is a postseason test in Abu Dhabi, where he’ll get behind the wheel of the AMR24. “It’s a great opportunity,” he said. “I’ve driven the 2022 car so I already know all of the buttons, which is the most difficult part.” It’s clear Crawford could be on the brink of a breakthrough, and should the stars continue aligning, American fans may have a new countryman to cheer for. 

Kevin Magnussen’s pace has been transformed recently, with Mexico seeing him produce his best qualifying and Formula 1 race result of the season.

Critically, that showing was not the result of some freak circumstance, as it came from some pretty impressive pace that even meant he was faster than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the closing stages of the race.

It is a far cry from the start of the season when Magnussen was struggling to get confident in Haas’s 2024 challenger, and earned attention more for his rear gunner tactics than his hard results out on track.

The breakthrough that he appears to have made since Austin, which could prove critical in Haas’s constructors’ championship battle with RB, has come at the same time as the team introduced a major new upgrade – but it is not those aero parts that have made the difference.

Instead, key to Magnussen finally unleashing the pace that he knew he had within him is increased confidence on corner entry, and especially when it comes to brake feel.

“This year it’s been very inconsistent on the brakes and I feel like we hopefully fixed that,” said Magnussen, when asked by Motorsport.com to explain where his step forward had come from.

“It certainly seemed that way in the last two races that there was a change that was made which I really felt. That was very positive.

“Hopefully it’s not temperature-related and hopefully it is real, but it certainly coincided with making that change.”

Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-24, Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-24

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Digging a bit deeper into the specifics of where things are better, Magnussen explained that it was all related to that initial braking phase.

“This season, when I hit the brakes, they sort of have a bit of lag and then they bite a little while after hitting the brakes,” he said.

“So it’s that initial feeling that I hit the brakes very hard. My peak brake pressure is always way higher than Nico [Hulkenberg], and so I think I just need to feel the brakes switch on immediately, and that’s been really hurting my confidence on entries.

“It upsets you in a bad way when you already feel uncomfortable with the brakes. So that’s been a big help.

“To know that they bite on the same way every time you hit the brakes, that’s a big thing for me.”

Haas is currently 10 points ahead of RB in the fight for sixth in the constructors’ championship, having had a run of five top-10 finishes.

And although it seems to have a decent pace advantage over its Faenza-based rival, Magnussen says it cannot take anything for granted just yet.

“We’re happy that we’re 10 points ahead, but I don’t think you can ever be too confident here,” he said.

“It can swing around very quickly. They just need one good race and they’re equal with us again. So we just need to stay on the ball.”