Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has refused to rule out suggestions that Jerome D'Ambrosio could follow Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari, saying they are “considering options”.
F1's latest 'stupid season' began before the wheels even turned thanks to the shock announcement that Mercedes' seven-time world champion Hamilton will become a Ferrari driver from 2025.
did it Will Jerome D'Ambrosio make the jump to Ferrari like Lewis Hamilton?
Hamilton, who has won six world championship titles since joining Mercedes in 2013, has become an integral part of the team, and other Mercedes players will also move as his future lies with Ferrari. This has led to speculation that this may be the case.
Mercedes previously told PlanetF1.com that Hamilton's contract had a “no poaching” clause, which would prevent key members of the Mercedes team from being poached to join Hamilton when he joined Ferrari. He said he could.
One member of the Mercedes staff who could join Ferrari in the not-too-distant future is Jerome D'Ambrosio, Mercedes' director of driver development, but Hamilton's move to Ferrari has no impact on this potential move. I haven't given it either.
Last season, D'Ambrosio was chosen by team principal Toto Wolff to stand in for Grands Prix where Wolff was physically absent, but the Austrian was reluctant to accept the task, with the former Venturi Formula E team principal taking up the role. He said he had “the right personality”. responsibility.
Wolff's on-field responsibilities will be delegated to multiple senior staff members, including D'Ambrosio, but he rarely misses a race, missing the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix and Qatar Grand Prix, but still missed the weekend He was fully involved in team management.
D'Ambrosio remains under contract with Mercedes until at least the end of 2024, but has been linked with a move to Ferrari, potentially replacing Jock Clear as head of the Ferrari Driver Academy.
This speculation predates Hamilton's move to Ferrari, with D'Ambrosio's decision to move to Maranello said to have been made completely independent of Hamilton's career change.
At the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Wolff was asked by the media about D'Ambrosio's future, and Wolff admitted that D'Ambrosio was “considering options” due to “personal reasons”.
“I think he's with us now and this situation is more of a personal reason for him considering his options of what to do and I think that's something he should talk about.” Wolff said.
“But everything is fine, everything is fine, let's see what happens.”
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D'Ambrosio is a fairly new name on the Mercedes scene, having only joined in 2023, but the once-dominant Silver Arrows have struggled in recent years with the loss of key, long-serving personnel, and it's no surprise that D'Ambrosio is a big contributor. It is assumed that there is. fell from the top position.
Design guru Aldo Costa, head of engine Andy Cowell, chief strategist James Vowles and chief technical officer Mike Elliott are also leaving, but Wolff, along with Red Bull and He emphasized that he has gained a “different kind of confidence” that they can become the best team in F1. Max Verstappen is currently dominating the match.
“This time, the confidence I have in this group is different,” Wolff said.
“My feeling is that we can be at the top.
“Is this enough to beat Red Bull's Max? No, it's not. But at least we put ourselves back in a position to fight for a podium and we're 100 percent sure we'll get there.”
2024 F1 hasn't had the smoothest start for Mercedes, but George Russell's fifth place in Bahrain was their best result in the opening two races of the season.
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