Toto Wolff’s 2018 comments about Mercedes ‘pillar’ Lewis Hamilton show why Ferrari can’t give up on him

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Lewis Hamilton is yet to deliver the level of performance that most believed he could with Ferrari.

The Briton languishes sixth in the drivers’ championship, with the SF25 having thrown plenty of problems at him so far.

Managing to remain positive through the struggles has been tough for Hamilton, who admitted he was ‘useless’ at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Now is the time for Ferrari to back their seven-time champion more than ever, especially if they want to turn a new chapter in their history from the 2026 F1 regulations.

Ferrari privately made a damning Hamilton decision, and Ralf Schumacher believes that Charles Leclerc is already the team’s number one.

14 races into the season, Ferrari have one critical ‘problem’ behind the scenes and need to fix their culture if they want to win again in the future.

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton raised three critical points in private Ferrari documents ahead of 2026 F1 season

Toto Wolff’s ‘pillar’ assessment of Lewis Hamilton shows why Ferrari can’t give up on him yet

Hamilton must avoid the same Ferrari fate as Kimi Raikkonen, which left the Finnish driver ‘very happy’ to leave the team back in 2009 after a dip in performance.

With a view to the future, Ferrari have ‘experimented’ with Hamilton’s 2026 car, but will be wary that their gambles don’t always pay off. Just look at this season.

That’s where his experience will come in use, as he looks to guide his team in the right direction and give them the best feedback possible on their work.

Ex-boss and Mercedes leader Toto Wolff once explained why Hamilton was such a ‘pillar’ of the Silver Arrows, which shows why the Scuderia shouldn’t give up on him yet.

“I’m never anxious or worried about anything, but Lewis has become a very important pillar in the team over the last six years,” he said.

“Taking a driver out with his capabilities, who has been very influential in the team over the last six years, and has grown into the team, would have been a disruption. And I think that in a tough championship like this year [2018], stability is a factor, going forward.

“So I think from his and my perspective, we’ve always tried hard to come to a solution and we actually never doubted that we would.”

READ MORE: Martin Brundle’s ‘lost an edge’ prediction about Lewis Hamilton has come true amid worst season ever at Ferrari

Why 2026 is the most important year of Lewis Hamilton’s Formula 1 career

Hamilton is now ‘leveraging’ Ferrari and hopes to control his own strategy a little more in the future, which is a step taken by other drivers in the past – Sebastian Vettel comes to mind.

His destiny is in his own hands, and the onus will be on him to make sure that he can extract enough from project ‘678’ to be in contention for a special eighth title.

Otherwise, even though he has the potential to activate an extension for the 2026 season, he might be having second thoughts about continuing beyond his 20th year.

There’s also significant pressure on Ferrari to develop a good car, with jobs on the line and the future of star driver Leclerc also to play for. They must deliver.