Although the 2025 Formula 1 season doesn’t officially start for a few more weeks, one storyline has dominated the winter break.
F1 fans got to see a glimpse of Lewis Hamilton in Ferrari’s iconic red overalls for the first time recently before he completed his first laps at the team’s private circuit at Fiorano.
Hamilton’s first social media post at Ferrari broke records, such is the interest in his latest and potentially final chapter in Formula 1.
However, there are two sides to this story and the other takes place at his previous team Mercedes.
Team principal Toto Wolff had a key decision to make when he discovered Hamilton was leaving and decided to promote youngster Andrea Kimi Antonelli into the seven-time world champion’s seat.
Antonelli isn’t worried about the pressure of replacing Hamilton but will understand that he’s trying to plug a huge hole at the Brackley-based team this season.
One of the jobs Antonelli has at Mercedes is away from the track with Mercedes having to fulfil plenty of commercial duties.
Antonelli is expected to do more commercial appearances than Hamilton, but one event that all of the major players at Mercedes recently appeared in was at Adidas’ headquarters.
Journalist Julianne Cerasoli was at the event and explained what Mercedes said about Hamilton and a golden rule that Wolff quickly broke.
Toto Wolff broke Mercedes rule about not speaking about Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes event
Cerasoli was speaking about the launch on her YouTube channel and said: “I’m here at the Adidas Pro headquarters to witness the launch of this partnership, but mainly because I want to start trying to understand what the new face of this Mercedes [team] will be without a certain Lewis Hamilton.
“His name cannot be officially mentioned here.
“It’s normal for teams to tell us not to mention drivers who are not part of the team, especially at commercial events.
READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family
“But I think it will be impossible for his presence not to stop here after a partnership that was the most successful in the history of Formula 1.”
“Right away, Toto was the first to mention the forbidden name, so that opened the floodgates, right?”
The answer in question from Wolff highlighted what Hamilton told him when he found out that Mercedes would be working with Adidas and he said: “Lewis said that it’s probably the sports brand with the most cultural relevance.
“He had a crying and laughing [reaction], I think, knowing that we were going to Adidas.”
Toto Wolff has to be patient after losing Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari
Hamilton’s commercial pull in Formula 1 is incredible and several of the sponsors that backed him at Mercedes are set to follow him to Ferrari.
Securing a deal with Adidas is huge for Mercedes and is likely to boost sales with fans.
However, the most important thing for Wolff and Mercedes is their performances on the track.
READ MORE: All you need to know about Mercedes F1 CEO and team principal Toto Wolff
Wolff is trying to temper expectations around Antonelli as it’s unlikely that he’s going to be competing for race wins immediately.
However, Antonelli is desperate to win on his F1 debut, and while it’s yet to be seen whether Mercedes will have a fast enough car to push for victories if they do, then the 18-year-old isn’t going to let new teammate George Russell reach the top step of the podium without a fight.
