Toto Wolff drops Lewis Hamilton contract hint as F1 summer break begins

31 July 2023 , 09:01

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Wolff and Hamilton have worked together for a decade (Image: Getty Images)

Toto Wolff promised Mercedes fans that Lewis Hamilton will play a key role in restoring the team to its former glory.

The Silver Arrows won eight Formula 1 constructors' titles in a row between 2014 and 2021. But that run came to an end last year as Red Bull secured glory after new car regulations changed the game.

Having won every race this season, Red Bull are set to make it back-to-back successes and possibly launch their own era of dominance. Mercedes, meanwhile, have won just one race in the last two seasons.

George Russell secured that victory in Brazil last year, meaning Hamilton is without a win since 2021. He is also currently without a contract after this season, despite months of talks with Mercedes.

But there remains little doubt that the seven-time world champion will commit his future to the Silver Arrows. And Wolff remains confident about that, as evidenced by his comments during an appearance on BBC Radio's Desert Island Discs.

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He called Hamilton an "important pillar of the team" and added: "I think there is no need to persuade him. He knows about all the goodness and although we struggled with the car this year and last, he will be part of the resurrection of the team."

Having worked together for so long, it's inevitable that there are some issues upon which Wolff and Hamilton have not seen eye to eye. But there is plenty of mutual respect between them and, even in the tense moments, the Austrian compares the relationship between them to his marriage with wife Susie.

Hamilton, 38, intends to sign a new Mercedes deal (Getty Images)

He explained: "Lewis has become a friend and over the years we've gone through difficult spells and very good moments. We celebrated many championships and we had discussions among ourselves which were not always easy.

"A key moment was at the end of 2016 where we didn't speak to each other for a while. So I invited him to come to my kitchen in Oxford and sit down and have a chat.

"The analogy I gave to him is that also I have arguments with Susie. Even if we shout at each other, even if we have this argument, there's never thought of divorcing, and that's why I said to him, 'I don't want to divorce you and neither do you. Because I want the best racing driver in our cars and you want to have the best cars'.

"So we came to the conclusion that we can have conflict, we can create an atmosphere where we're able to be brutally honest with each other, and sometimes we agree to disagree, but we move on."

Daniel Moxon