Formula 1 fans have reproved Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff over his remarks on Lewis Hamilton’s decision to leave the team to join Ferrari from 2025.

Ferrari announced in February that Hamilton had signed a ‘multi-year contract’ to race for them, with the seven-time world champion seeing out his contract with Mercedes before his arrival.

It hasn’t exactly been the smoothest 2024 for the Brit on the track, despite winning his first Grand Prix since the 2021 season.

Hamilton secured victories at both the British and Belgian Grands Prix, although planned Mercedes upgrades for the second half of the season haven’t had the desired effect.

He compared his car at the Brazilian Grand Prix, in which he finished 10th in changeable conditions that he usually excels in, to a ‘plank of wood’, and described it as the worst car he’d ever driven.

In a new book titled ‘Mercedes F1: Life in the Fast Lane’, Wolff has commented on Hamilton’s departure at the team – and fans aren’t exactly impressed by the words used by the Silver Arrows team principal.

Wolff says: “I like the situation [Hamilton leaving for Ferrari]. It helps us because it avoids the moment where we need to tell the sport’s most iconic driver that we want to stop.

“There’s a reason why we only signed a one-plus-one-year contract. We’re in a sport where cognitive sharpness is extremely important, and I believe everyone has a shelf life. So I need to look at the next generation.”

Wolff’s comments appearing to allude to Hamilton’s age – he turns 40 in January – caught the attention of fans, especially as the Austrian revealed earlier this year that 43-year-old Fernando Alonso had turned down an approach to join the team before signing a new deal with Aston Martin.

One fan wrote: “Always loved Toto but since Lewis left there’s been far too many of these little comments aimed at him.”

A second said: “What about Mercedes performance? You didn’t want to do it but you guys cost Lewis three years without competition.”

A third added: “He’s just trying to deflect. We all know the team are a shadow of their former selves. Three years into these regulations and they still haven’t a clue how to get the most out of their car.”