Toto Wolff recalls ‘I don’t want to divorce you’ peace talks with Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton was reeling from losing the 2016 F1 championship to his teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Nico Rosberg when he visited Wolff’s home for crucial talks.
That meeting has been remembered by Wolff amid the ongoing negotiations to tie Hamilton to Mercedes b♕eyond the end of this season.
ꦚ“A key moment was at the end of 2016ꩵ where we didn’t speak to each other for a while,” the Mercedes team principal told .
“So I invited him to co꧃me to my kitchen in O🌌xford and sit down and have a chat.
“The kind of analogy I gave to him is that also I have arguments with Susie [Wolff, his wife].🐎
“Even if we shout [at] each other, which doesn’t happen a lot, but even if we have thes꧂e argume🦩nts, there’s never thought of divorcing.
“And that’s why I said to him ‘I don’t want to divorce you, and neit♈her do you, because I want the best racing drivers in our cars and you want to have the best car’.
“So w🀅e came to the conclusion that we can have conflicts, we can create an atmosphere where we are able to be brutally honest with 𝓀each other.
“And sometimes we agree to disagree, b☂ut we move on.”
Hamilton went on to claim his fourt✨h F1 title the following season, and now holds a൲ joint-record seven, although dominance has shifted to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who is cruising towards his third in a row.
Hamilton, 38, knows time is running out to secure the outright record of eight titles, but retains faith i𝐆n Mercedes despite two drab years.
Wolff was asked🔴 if he h♔opes Hamilton stays, and said: “Absolutely. He’s such an important pillar of the team.”
Do you think he will?
“I very mꦐuch hope,” Wolff repl🃏ied. “I’m doing everything I can to make him stay.”
Asked how he is trying to persuade Hamilton, Wolff🌠 answered: “I think there’s no need to persuade him.
“He knows about all the goodness and although we struggled with the car this yearജ 🎉and last year, he will be part of the resurrection of the team.”
Hamilton and Wolff have regularly insisted tha𝓀t a new contract is a formality although it remains unsigned.
Wolff 💜denied a rep🎐ort that they are negotiating a 10-year ambassadorial role for Hamilton after his F1 retirement, as part of the contract talks.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a d✤ecade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
