Timing of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari move surprised Mercedes’ Toto Wolff

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff reveals Lewis Hamilton's surprise decision to join Ferrari in 2025 over breakfast.

Mercedes Formula One principal Toto Wolff said Lewis Hamilton's decision to move to Ferrari in 2025 took the team by surprise and revealed the seven times world champion announced the decision to him over breakfast at the boss's home.

The move that rocked the sport was announced to the world by both teams on Thursday evening, a day after the Briton had informed Wolff.

The Austrian told reporters in a video call on Friday that while the switch to Ferrari was not a shock, as a topic discussed between them over the years, the timing came as a surprise.

"Formula One and my previous life have made me resilient to surprises. I've been confronted so many times in my life with black swans, but it was a surprise," said the Austrian.

"We knew that maybe it could be a year, it could be two," he said of the two year contract extension with a release clause that Hamilton and Mercedes signed only last August.

"The surprise was that I've heard the rumours a couple of days earlier but wanted to wait for the breakfast we had planned and that was Wednesday morning. This was when he broke the news."

Wolff said Hamilton, 39, told him he needed a new challenge.