Vasseur's behavior was suspicious for Toto Wolff

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has revealed that he suspected that Lewis Hamilton might depart from the Brackley-based outfit after Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur did not reply to his message

Lewis Hamilton announced his shock departure from Mercedes on the 1st of February. The announcement caught the Formula One community by surprise as the seven-time world champion was due to race for the Brackley-based outfit until the end of 2025.

However, the Briton elected to terminate his contract at the end of the current season and seek for a new challenge at Ferrari next year. Hamilton is statistically the most successful driver in the history of Formula One, but he is tied with the great German seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher on the number of world championship titles.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff initially indicated that he was first informed about Hamilton's plans by the seven-time world champion himself when they sat down for their usual pre-season meeting.

However, speaking to the High Performance podcast, Wolff said that an initial call from Carlos Sainz Sr., father of the Ferrari driver Carlos had been where he first got the first indication that something was in the offing.

"So I heard the bells ringing two weeks before. 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."

Wolff has revealed that he contacted his friend, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur after his conversation with Carlos Sainz, but he did not receive any response from the Frenchman.

"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."

Hamilton and Wolff traditionally caught up after the winter break to reflect on their holiday and talk about the forthcoming season. Although it has been a tradition, it was very different this time around as the Briton revealed that he would depart from the team he has secured six world titles with.

"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.

"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?"

Despite the success that Mercedes has had with the seven-time world champion, Wolff reckons that he could quickly accept Hamilton's decision.

"Well, I had much worse in my life, happening, like real drama and trauma. This is not even moving the needle. 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?"