Toto Wolff has revealed he got advice from from Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola which prompted him not to convince Lewis Hamilton to stay at Mercedes, Afrosport reports.
The seven-time world champion will be leaving the German automobile giant at the end of the year to join Italian marque Ferrari from next year.
Wolff could have persuaded Hamilton to change his mind and continue with Mercedes but the Austrian decided to follow a principle from Guardiola.
“I think if somebody decides to go, then you need to let them go,” Wolff told the High Performance podcast.
“I had a chat with Pep Guardiola a long time ago and he’s a friend. I said ‘what do you do if this or 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, then you have just got to let them go’.
“And that is something I embrace in the same way here. If somebody wants to go, then let’s make it as good as possible for each of the parties.”
Wolff went on to assert that while the news of Hamilton’s departure came was a shock, it was not hard to process.
“I had much worse in my life, happening, like real drama and trauma,” he added. “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?”
The Mercedes seat of Hamilton will be taken over by 18-year-old academy graduate and Formula 2 driver Kimi Antonelli, and will partner George Russell.
