Toto Wolff says he’s confident Lewis Hamilton will not take reams of secret information about Mercedes’ success to Ferrari next year.
The Mercedes boss and co-owner admits that hearing about the seven time world champion’s decision to trigger an exit clause at the end of the season caught him off guard - but only partly.
"In life, I am always ready to receive astonishing news," he smiled to the Belgian broadcaster RTBF.
"My first reaction was ’What?!’ But then we quickly discussed it in a very pragmatic way."
However, contrary to speculation, Wolff says the most concerning thing for him isn’t the prospect of Hamilton, 39, taking key engineering and technical secrets to Maranello.
And the Austrian says he’s not even worried about the relationships between Hamilton and continuing team members turning sour during the course of 2024 - especially as key development secrets start getting discussed for next year.
"You shouldn’t fool yourself," he told the Austrian broadcaster ORF. "Of course there can be a certain dynamic when a driver changes teams, especially if things are not going so smoothly.
"But both drivers still get equal opportunities. We need two drivers who perform excellently.
"Additionally, I believe that drivers have less input in terms of development than any engineer. And there are always personnel changes of people moving from us to Ferrari or Red Bull. That’s what you have to pay attention to," said Wolff.
"Apart from a few minor details, Lewis won’t take much development to Ferrari."