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For 12 years, Formula 1 superstar Lewis Hamilton plied his trade with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team under team principal Toto Wolff. The pairing resulted in Hamilton winning six world drivers championships and the team winning seven constructors titles. But this year, Hamilton is set to take on a new challenge with the legendary Scuderia Ferrari team, and Wolff doesn’t seem very happy about it.
In a book about his time at Mercedes and particularly a difficult 2024 season, Wolff said Hamilton’s move to Ferrari “helps us because it avoids the moment where we need to tell the sport’s most iconic driver that we want to stop … We’re in a sport where cognitive sharpness is extremely important, and I believe everyone has a shelf life.”
Hamilton, 40, is toward the end of what most motorsports fans would consider a Formula 1’s driver prime. But the legendary British driver didn’t appreciate the comments and fired back in a recent interview with TIME.
“Don’t ever compare me to anybody else,” Hamilton sad. “I’m the first and only Black driver that’s ever been in this sport. I’m built different. I’ve been through a lot. I’ve had my own journey. You can’t compare me to another 40-year-old, past or present, Formula One driver in history.
“Because they are nothing like me. I’m hungry, driven, don’t have a wife and kids. I’m focused on one thing, and that’s winning. That’s my No. 1 priority.”
No driver over the age of 40 has won a Formula 1 world driver’s championship since Graham Hill in 1968. So it’s entirely possible that Wolff is correct. But only time will tell. And Hamilton is correct in stating that his situation is unique to any of those drivers who came before him.
Physically, he remains in elite shape, and it appears his will to win is as strong as ever. Now it’s matter of whether Ferrari can present him with a championship-caliber car. And if they can, can Hamilton out-duel 27-year-old teammate Charles Leclerc, who himself has championship aspirations.