Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says people are wrong to think Lewis Hamilton could face some struggles adapting to his new life at Ferrari.
Hamilton is leaving Mercedes at the end of this season after a 12-year spell to join Ferrari as team-mate to Charles Leclerc.
It will be the first time that he has raced for a non-British-based team in F1, having originally started his career with McLaren in 2007.
Some have suggested that Hamilton could face challenges in adapting to a completely different culture at Maranello.
But the seven-time world champion’s current team boss Wolff is convinced that Hamilton will quickly get to grips with things.
“I think many people say that it’s going to be really difficult,” explained Wolff.
“But I think if you say it’s going to be really difficult, then often it’s the opposite.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal and General Manager, Scuderia Ferrari, with Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“Ferrari is a great team, great people, lots of emotion and passion and therefore it’s pressure. But I believe they are going to find a way of working with each other.”
Hamilton said earlier this year that he was ignoring the sceptics over a choice he is convinced is correct for him.
«There’s not been a moment where I’ve questioned it, and I’m not swayed by other people’s comments,” he said.
“Even today, there’s people continuing to talk shit, and it will continue on for the rest of the year.
«And I’ll have to just do what I did in the previous time. Only you can know what was right for you. And it will be an exciting time for me.»
The freshness of Antonelli
Wolff added that the emotional ties to Hamilton will likely last forever, but he is also excited at the prospect of a driver shake-up within Mercedes, with young Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli being chosen as the British driver’s successor.
“I think we had such a great run with Lewis over the last 12 years,” continued Wolff. “He’s always going to be part of the family.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“But obviously, as a competitor, when we try to beat him next year, Kimi joining George clearly brings momentum with it, plus youth and freshness.
“You can feel the kind of smile that is in your organisation with having an 18-year-old in a car.
“But having said that, obviously, there will be moments where Lewis’s experience would have benefited the team.
“Kimi is going to be on a steep learning curve, but it’s absolutely the right thing for the team to do and there’s not one person that would have done it differently.”