Toto Wolff has admitted that Mercedes will miss Lewis Hamilton’s experience at times next year while 18-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli finds his footing in F1.

Mercedes were left stunned earlier this year when news broke that Hamilton had agreed a deal to join Ferrari at the end of the season.

It ends Hamilton’s career-long association with Mercedes and one of the most successful partnerships in F1 history.

He has six races left with Mercedes before he officially jumps ship to Ferrari and Wolff accepts the team will miss him at times next year.

“I think we had such a great run with Lewis over the last 12 years,” Wolff said.

“He’s always going to be part of the family.

“But obviously, as a competitor, when we try to beat him next year, Kimi joining George [Russell] clearly brings momentum with it, plus youth and freshness.

“You can feel the kind of smile that is in your organisation with having an 18-year-old in a car.

“But having said that, obviously, there will be moments where Lewis’s experience would have benefited the team.

“Kimi is going to be on a steep learning curve, but it’s absolutely the right thing for the team to do and there’s not one person that would have done it differently.”

Hamilton’s move to Ferrari will see him join back up with Fred Vasseur having worked together in the junior formulae.

And the seven-time world champion revealed earlier this year that his move to Ferrari wouldn’t have happened without Vasseur’s input.

“I’ve got a great relationship with Fred,” he said.

“Obviously I raced with him in Formula 3, and we had amazing success in Formula 3 and also in GP2, and that’s really where the foundation of our relationship started. We just always remained in touch.

“I thought that he was going to be an amazing team manager at some stage and progress to Formula 1, but at the time he wasn’t interested in that.

“It was really cool to see him step into the Alfa [Romeo] team and then when he got the job at Ferrari I was just so happy for him, and I think just the stars aligned.

“I think it really wouldn’t have happened without him, so I’m really grateful and really excited about the work that he’s doing there.”

Hamilton has been proven right as well with former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto admitting he wouldn’t have signed Hamilton if he was still with the team.

When asked whether he would have approached Hamilton, Binotto said: “No. But he did very well to go to Ferrari, I agree with his decision.”