Hamilton 'divorce' discussed by Toto Wolff as Mercedes contract remains unsigned

31 July 2023 , 21:43

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Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton (Image: Getty Images)

Toto Wolff has compared his relationship with Lewis Hamilton to his marriage as he opened up about the "arguments" he and the 38-year-old have at Mercedes.

Hamilton has worked with Wolff for over a decade and the pair have formed a strong bond, with the former winning six of his seven world championships under the Austrian. The Stevenage-born driver last won a world title in 2020 with Max Verstappen winning the two completed years since.

Red Bull have dominated since the start of the 2021 season. It has seen Sergio Perez and Verstappen lead the way at the top, with Hamilton dropping down the grid. Subsequently, there has been rumours surrounding Hamilton's future with his contract which expires at the end of this campaign.

Wolff is hoping Hamilton can spearhead Mercedes' revival. And in an interview with the BBC, Wolff admitted that he can have "conflict" with the seven-time world champion.

He said: "Lewis has become a friend and over 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.

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"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 [my wife] 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.'

Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes future is uncertain (Getty Images)

“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."

Wolff added: "I think we have a similar music taste. Obviously his is much more sophisticated - but many years ago I said to him, 'What would you think if we were to play AC/DC's Thunderstruck in the garage before going out with the cars, to have all the mechanics listen to this?' and he said, 'It would make me puke!'"

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.

Kieran King