Mercedes boss Toto Wolff opens up on his dismay watching Lewis Hamilton's Iconic picture outside Enzo Ferrari's house

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits that he didn't feel good about watching Lewis Hamilton wear a suit on his first shoot as a Ferrari driver in his iconic image outside Enzo Ferrari's home. The 7x F1 champion broke the internet early in the year with his first photo outside the Italian icon's home.

Wearing an all-black suit, Lewis Hamilton posed outside Enzo Ferrari's home in an image that would go down as one of the most engaged posts on F1 social media. The picture, however, didn't impress Toto Wolff, as the Austrian admitted that he had often asked Hamilton to wear a suit during his stint with the team, but the driver would often decline.

The partnership between Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes began in 2013 when the driver made the move from McLaren. The partnership would prove to be career-defining for the driver as he ended up achieving multiple world championships. The partnership would, however, end when the Brit announced his departure from the German team in a move to the Italian squad.

Toto Wolff at that point took the move in his stride as he replaced Lewis Hamilton with Kimi Antonelli subsequently. However, talking to the Telegraph, he did admit that he wasn't overjoyed looking at Hamilton wearing a suit in his first picture as a Ferrari driver. He said,

“And then also he did that famous photo in front of the Enzo Ferrari house wearing a suit like he was in The Godfather. For years, I had tried to get him to wear a suit and he always resisted it and put his stuff on. And here, on the first day with a new friend, he is wearing a suit! And that must have been one of the most published photos ever on social media.”

Toto Wolff on his approach when Lewis Hamilton announced his departure

When Lewis Hamilton announced his departure, Toto Wolff was caught off guard as the Austrian didn't expect the Brit to make such a move. After around 6 months of evaluation, Wolff would give teenager Kimi Antonelli the opportunity to replace the F1 legend. Talking about his approach when Hamilton announced his departure, Wolff revealed that he looked at the situation as an opportunity. He said,

“I like change generally – I like the challenge and opportunities it presents. When Lewis resigned, I immediately started thinking, ‘What will we do now? Let’s embrace it.’ I think anyway that, after 12 years, we had started to annoy each other. I already had this young kid in the pipeline."

In the first year since their separation, Mercedes seems to have more or less found its footing without Lewis Hamilton. George Russell has taken over as the lead driver, while Kimi Antonelli is slowly starting to be more of a match for the British driver in the second half of the season.