Toto Wolff reveals a FIVE HOUR chat with Lewis Hamilton in his kitchen in 2016 soothed his dismay with Mercedes after Nico Rosberg pipped him to the title – and the Austrian compared his potential exit to divorcing his wife!
- Toto Wolff hasn’t always enjoyed the smoothest relationship with Lewis Hamilton
- But now the Mercedes team principal considers the Brit to be a good friend
- Hamilton is lining up his bid for a record eighth world championship this season
Toto Wolff has revealed how a heart-to-heart with Lewis Hamilton in his kitchen in 2016 galvanised the British driver’s success with Mercedes.
Mercedes team principal Wolff said he was at loggerheads with Hamilton after Nico Rosberg, the Brit’s team-mate, had won the driver’s championship that year.
And he has explained how a comparison to divorcing his wife helped Hamilton see the light and remain with Mercedes and Wolff, with whom he has now won six world championships to date.
Toto Wolff (right) has opened up on forging a successful relationship alongside Lewis Hamilton, saying they had a five-hour chat in 2016 after the driver missed out on the title
‘I said we need to decide whether we want to work together or not,’ Wolff explained in an interview with 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 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.
Wolff even compared Hamilton’s possible Mercedes exit to divorcing his wife Susie (right)
Hamilton is now gearing up to try and win a record-setting eighth championship this year
‘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.’
Hamilton is gearing up to launch his bid for a record-setting eighth driver’s title this season after agonisingly losing out to Max Verstappen of Red Bull on the final race of last season.
The 2022 campaign starts on Sunday with the race in Bahrain.