Lewis Hamilton: Toto Wolff admits to closely following former Mercedes driver’s progress for Ferrari at Australian GP

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says he felt like he had three drivers during the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as he found himself closely tracking Lewis Hamilton’s progress following the Brit’s switch to Ferrari.

Hamilton left Mercedes after 12 seasons with the Silver Arrows at the end of last year, following a historic partnership that saw him win six of his seven drivers’ titles.

Mercedes signed Italian teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli to replace Hamilton as George Russell’s team-mate, and the duo made a strong start in Melbourne by taking fourth and third, respectively.

“When I was looking at the screens, at times, the way I looked at it is like we had three drivers because I was looking at RUS, I was looking at ANT and I was looking at HAM,” said Wolff, referring to the three-letter abbreviations that each driver is given on the timing screens.

“And then you realise, well HAM is actually with Ferrari and is not with us anymore.”

Hamilton endured a hugely underwhelming first weekend with Ferrari, qualifying eighth before finishing 10th in the race as the Italian team displayed a surprising lack of pace.

Wolff added: “It was such a long time, it’s logical, you cannot just say he’s gone, and you don’t care anymore.

“You very much care how he’s doing but obviously on track, he’s the competition and we need to beat the competition.”

‘Mercedes need to get better to fight for race wins’

Mercedes have struggled since the current design regulations, which change at the end of this season, were introduced in 2022.

They appear to have started 2025 in a stronger place than any of their three previous campaigns, but Wolff admits they will have to find a significant amount of performance to be able to compete with pace-setting McLaren, for whom Lando Norris won in Melbourne.

“I think it’s a solid first weekend, but looking at it always from the glass half-empty side, you have to say that the pace of the McLaren is just very strong,” Wolff said.

“We need to get better if we want to fight on merit for race victories and for a championship, there is definitely something which we need to find.”

Wolff specified the ability of McLaren – and to a lesser degree Red Bull, who had Max Verstappen finish second – to manage their tyres as the key area his team need to catch up in.

He added: “We have a deficit in keeping the tyres in the window. They are able to do that better and get faster, and with us we are seeing a degradation because they’re simply getting too hot.

“I would have liked to be a bit closer to them, but that’s the reality.”

Sky Sports F1’s live Chinese GP schedule

Thursday March 20

5am: Drivers’ Press Conference

Friday March 21

1am: F1 Academy Practice
3am: Chinese GP Practice One (session starts at 3.30am)*
5.30am: Team Principals’ Press Conference
6am: F1 Academy Qualifying*
6.45am: Chinese GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 7.30am)*

Saturday March 22

2.25am: Chinese GP Sprint build-up*
3am: Chinese GP Sprint*
5.45am: F1 Academy Race 1*
6.35am: Chinese GP Qualifying build-up*
7am: CHINESE GP QUALIFYING*
9am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*

Sunday March 23

2.40am: F1 Academy Race 2
5.30am: Chinese GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
7am: THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX*
9am: Chinese GP reaction: Chequered flag*
10am: Ted’s Notebook*

*Also on Sky Sports Main Event

The F1 circus heads straight to Shanghai this week for the first Sprint weekend of the season at the Chinese GP, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime