‘I don’t want a divorce’ - How a meeting in Toto Wolff’s kitchen saved relationship with Lewis Hamilton
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 14/03/2022 at 08:54 GMT
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has built up a formidable partnership with Lewis Hamilton - but that has not always been the case. Ahead of the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend, the team principal says a “reluctant” meeting between the pair one Christmas saved their relationship. The season gets underway this weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff says it took time to build a strong relationship with Lewis Hamilton
Image credit: Getty Images
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff says his relationship with Lewis Hamilton hit rock bottom when the British driver missed out on the world title in 2016 - but a Christmas party in his kitchen proved to be a turning point.
Hamilton’s then team-mate Nico Rosberg had beaten the now seven-time champion to the overall trophy, and it led to questions about whether he wanted to stay with the German team.
But Wolff says he managed to convince his star man to come to his Oxfordshire home for crunch talks, albeit “reluctantly”.
“I said we need to decide whether we want to work together or not,” Wolff told The Times.
“You want to win as a driver, I want to win as a team. Sometimes our different agendas are going to lead to conflict and we need to decide whether we can cope with that situation.
“We were in my kitchen. I said to him, and Susie didn’t much like this analogy, that even though Susie and I might disagree about something, it would never come into my mind to divorce. ‘And it’s the same with you Lewis,’ I said. ‘I don’t want a divorce. You’re the best driver. I want you in our car and we want to provide you with the best car.’
“We kind of went into this discussion at loggerheads and then, after four or five hours in the kitchen, we found ourselves on a totally different level.
A purely business-related relationship had become a personal relationship. He’s a friend. Doesn’t mean we don’t argue anymore but now, Lewis’s success is the team’s success, and the team’s success is Lewis’s success.
Wolff says the rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg became so toxic, he had to bring them back down to earth when they collided on the final lap of the Austrian Grand Prix in 2016 - it was then that the drivers experienced the wrath of their boss for the first time.
“I felt that they were opportunistic, putting their own objectives before the team’s objectives, that they did not respect that there were a thousand people who worked for them. I had to show the organisation that I wouldn’t allow that behaviour anymore.
“After the race, I demanded that both drivers come out to the space where all the engineers were. I told them, ‘Look at everybody here in the room, imagine everybody back at home and their families, and realise how you are making us look.’ I used some harsh words I cannot repeat.
“I saw the engineers look at the floor, the drivers look at the floor. I said, ‘The next time when you want to drive each other off the road, you think about all the faces here, and then you will think twice.’ And I told them that if it happened again, I would not hesitate to take them out of the car. I said, ‘Don’t challenge me on this — you don’t want to find out what I am capable of.’”
Mercedes go into the Bahrain Grand Prix still hurting from what they believe was an injustice at the season ending race in Abu Dhabi last year, when rules were not followed correctly by the race director - allowing Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to overtake Hamilton late on and take the world title. Wolff says ultimately, it will make them tougher to beat in the upcoming campaign.
“Nothing worse can happen than Abu Dhabi. In a way that lessens the pressure on us. If we win, we will enjoy it more. If we lose we will recover because the team has recovered from Abu Dhabi and if we can recover from that, we can recover from anything.”
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement