Toto Wolff gives Lewis Hamilton retirement theory as former boss weighs in on F1 struggles

Toto Wolff has come out to bat for his former star driver, Lewis Hamilton, after the seven-time world champion gave a series of dejected interviews at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Mercedes team principal also denied any suggestions that the 40-year-old could retire at the end of his first season with Ferrari.

Hamilton arrived at the Hungaroring, one of his favourite tracks, looking to bounce back after a challenging Belgian Grand Prix that saw him dumped out in Q1 in both the sprint shootout and Saturday's qualifying. Unfortunately for the Brit, the pendulum swung in the other direction. He was unable to progress from Q2 on Saturday and struggled to make headway when the lights went out on Sunday. He crossed the line in the same position he started, P12, stuck in a DRS train behind Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar.

After climbing out of the cockpit, Hamilton gave a disconcerting interview, in which he refused to wheel back his comments from the previous day. The Brit had described himself as "absolutely useless", telling Ferrari to "change driver" if they want improved results.

Former boss Wolff was asked about these comments after the race. "No, that is Lewis wearing his heart on his sleeve," he explained. "It's what he thought very much when he was asked after the session was very raw.

"He was doubting himself, and we had it in the past. When he felt that he had underperformed his own expectations, and the team had its own goal, he's been that emotional, emotionally transparent since he was a young boy, a young adult.

"So, he's going to beat himself up. He's the GOAT. And he will always be the GOAT, and nobody's going to take that away. For sure, no single weekend or race season that hasn't gone to plan."

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Wolff also dismissed any chance of the seven-time world champion retiring before or at the end of the 2025 season. Hamilton's Ferrari contract runs through until the end of 2026, taking him into the first year of the new technical regulations.

"Lewis has unfinished business in Formula One," Wolff continued. "In the same way that Mercedes underperformed over this latest set of regulations since 2022, he kind of never got happy with ground effect cars, in the same way, it beats him. Maybe it's linked to driving style.

"So, he shouldn't go anywhere. Next year, brand new cars, completely different to drive, new power units that need an intelligent way of managing the energy. So, that's absolutely on for Lewis, and I hope he stays on for many more years, and certainly next year is going to be an important one."