Lewis Hamilton didn’t even ‘acknowledge’ key Mercedes figure after winning at Silverstone

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Lewis Hamilton took what may be his final victory for Mercedes at the British Grand Prix last weekend. He was able to end his two-and-a-half-year drought in dream fashion ahead of his move to Ferrari in 2025.

Mercedes have rejoined the fight at the front of the field after making a breakthrough with their concept. But the competitive picture is shifting all the time, so there’s no guarantee that Hamilton returns to the top step before the season is out, particularly with George Russell outperforming him at present.

Still, his 83rd victory in Mercedes colours extends his record for the most with a single team. He’s also won an unprecedented six championships since joining the Silver Arrows in 2013.

It was less than a year ago that Hamilton signed a new two-year deal with the Brackley outfit. However, the second year of that agreement was optional, and the 39-year-old opted out after successful negotiations with Ferrari.

He’ll now look to become F1’s first-ever eight-time world champion with the sport’s most iconic team. It’s likely to be the final stop of his storied career.

Some are beginning to suggest that he may have made the wrong decision given Mercedes’ improvement and Ferrari’s recent regression. But he chose to leave after seeing the former struggle for the first two years of the ground effect era, and he clearly has a great deal of faith in Fred Vasseur’s project.

Lewis Hamilton seemed to ignore Toto Wolff after Silverstone win

After Hamilton crossed the line at Silverstone, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff addressed him over the team radio. The Englishman had been audibly emotional in his interaction with race engineer Peter Bonnington.

“Lewis, we will prevail, we never give up, and what a sign-off for our joint-trajectory here at the British Grand Prix,” Wolff said. “We couldn’t wish for anything better.”

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However, Racer’s Chris Medland has noticed that Hamilton was ‘silent’ after this message. There wasn’t ‘even an acknowledgement of the comments’.

While it’s possible that he was too tearful to respond, Medland was still struck by the ‘absence of a reply’. He also pointed out that Wolff didn’t necessarily congratulate or praise Hamilton directly, which was also ‘notable’.

Why Hamilton was ‘upset’ with Mercedes before joining Ferrari

Wolff insists he wasn’t surprised by Hamilton’s decision to leave in and of itself. He was, of course, aware of the break clause at the end of 2024.

But the timing of the news did catch him off-guard. It seems clear now, at the halfway point of the season, that Mercedes didn’t have a firm succession plan in place.

Instead, they’re waiting to see whether Kimi Antonelli can prove himself in Formula 2. In an ideal world, Hamilton would have seen out his deal and Wolff wouldn’t have had to accelerate the timeline for the teenager.

Negotiations, though, didn’t play out as envisaged. Hamilton was ‘upset’ that Mercedes didn’t show more ‘commitment’ despite all they achieved as a partnership.

There has been little public indication of any bad blood. But it seems as if relations between Hamilton and Wolff may have frayed behind the scenes.