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Hamilton a "different person" after Rosberg quit - Wolff
Nico Rosberg's departure from Mercedes has helped Lewis Hamilton become a "different person" this year and much more of a team player, claims his F1 boss Toto Wolff.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: May 29, 2017, 7:09 PM
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As Hamilton knuckles down to a Formula 1 title battle with Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel, Wolff has said he has noticed a big change in the British driver's approach to his job this year.
He believes that a key contribution to the new approach is the fact that Rosberg's retirement from F1 at the end of the last year helped remove "animosity" inside the outfit that had started to affect those working in the garages.
"The dynamic has changed," explained Wolff about the impact of Rosberg's departure. "But there is a very positive effect that the dynamic between Lewis and Nico in the end went from friendship to rivalry, from rivalry to controversy, and from controversy to animosity.
"And because they play such an essential role in the team, that spills over to the team. Then, where we ended up, is all the time managing this situation. And you could see at times there were two sides of the garage as they got sucked into the rivalry. This has stopped.
"Lewis has developed in a very impressive way as a personality over the winter. He came back a different person."
Wolff says the biggest change in Hamilton is that he has understood better how he is a part of the team and that so so many people depend on him having the right attitude.
"What I feel with Lewis over the winter, what has happened, is that he is not a contractor any more, like we used to call drivers, as every team calls drivers, but he has become a team member in an authentic way," he said.
"He feels part of the team, he understands what the thinking of the team is, that we help each other, and that sometimes there will be difficult moments. But it doesn't mean we need to fall out.
"The situation with Valtteri helps. They respect each other, they get on with each other very well and there is no controversy, a lot of respect.
"In a certain way I see Lewis being happy for Valtteri [Bottas] that he settled in well, Valtteri acknowledging that Lewis has been with the team for a long time and is a triple world champion. It is a perfect dynamic between the two of them for the team.
"Having said that, I don't think you always need to have happy/happy in the team, as disruption is important. Difficult people ask difficult questions, difficult questions make you perform better. Difficult situations make you perform better.
"So we don't want to be in a comfort zone. That is not what is happening. There are still rough discussions we are having in the team but it is with no animosity at all. So it is much better."
Engineering input
One other thing that Wolff has noticed about Rosberg's absence this year is that it has changed the level of engineering input from drivers – which had been one of the German's core strengths.
"Nico played a very important role in the development of the team," added Wolff. "He was pushing Lewis to the limits, and the two of them were pushing each other and therefore scoring very good results for us.
"If one had a bad day and couldn't find the direction of the car, the other one would do and then eventually they would help each other indirectly. And he had an engineering-like attitude that helped us also in the development. So that is missed.
"But I think we found the best guy out there to step into his shoes. Valtteri is very rational, he is intelligent, he has a lot of experience, more than 80 races in F1, and he has shown he has pace."
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