Toto Wolff initially rejected Lewis Hamilton’s ‘support’ proposal after Angela Cullen split

Lewis Hamilton signed off from his 11-year Mercedes partnership in style at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, bringing an end to three miserable seasons with the Silver Arrows.

Ever since falling short of claiming his eighth world title to Max Verstappen in 2021, things never returned to ‘normality’ (domination) for the Brit, who went on a near three-year winless streak.

He broke it in some style by winning his ninth British Grand Prix this year – a mega send-off for his fans during his swansong season with Mercedes.

But his 2024 campaign was underlined by qualifying struggles and overall frustration at the package beneath him – Ferrari, where he heads for 2025, should offer him something better for the future.

Toto Wolff rejected Lewis Hamilton’s Stephen Lord proposal after Angela Cullen split

Hamilton is still a genius, and that was proven by recent drives at both the Las Vegas Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

But after a shock split from long-time aide and trainer Angela Cullen, he was left searching for some more help in early 2023.

He requested the services of Mercedes coordinator Stephen Lord, to which Toto Wolff initially refused, as Lord admitted to F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast.

“I’m still race team coordinator,” he said. “At the beginning of last year, when Lewis and Angela parted company, Lewis approached Toto and said ‘Can Stevo support me, when I’m in the car, going to the grid, looking after my kit?’.

“Initially, Toto said no, he said Stevo’s got a job, he’s got enough on his plate. By all accounts, Lewis persisted and in the end, Ron Meadows, the sporting director and Toto said ‘Well, look. Stevo will do it if he agrees to do it for two or three races until you find a suitable replacement for Angela.’

“I started that side role in Saudi last year and here we are still, which I kind of suspected might happen.”

Can Hamilton return to the top in 2025?

Looking ahead to 2025, there are a few weaknesses that new team Ferrari and himself have to address before the season to stand a chance of beating McLaren.

Hamilton’s main worry alongside Charles Leclerc is that the Monegasquee driver is so strong in qualifying, where the Brit has struggled this season.

The Scuderia also needs to develop their car to be a bit stronger in all conditions, at all tracks – which will make setting the car up easier, and increase their window of high performance.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are the only two drivers at a team which won’t be changing its line-up for 2025, bringing extra stability to the Papaya outfit over their rivals.

It means that everyone else is going to have to work that little bit harder to reach the top, but if Hamilton can rediscover his Saturday form, then anything is possible.