Breaking news
Formula 1
Hamilton: Wolff winter meeting "reset" relationship for 2017
Lewis Hamilton says a winter meeting with Toto Wolff ahead of the 2017 Formula 1 season was “really important” to reset their relationship following Nico Rosberg’s departure from Mercedes.
Jonathan Noble Ben Anderson
Edited: Dec 31, 2017, 1:14 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Internal relations became highly strained as Hamilton’s F1 title battles with Rosberg from 2014-16 became affected by various controversies relating to on-track collisions, off-track behaviour and Mercedes management decisions.
After two collisions in the early part of the 2016 season, Wolff threatened to bench both drivers if they caused a third, and there was further controversy at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, where Hamilton repeatedly refused team instructions to speed up - after driving deliberately slowly to back Rosberg into the chasing pack.
Following Rosberg’s shock retirement after winning the ’16 championship, Hamilton met with Wolff at his team boss’s Oxfordshire home to clear the air, which Wolff felt was crucial in helping Hamilton return to his best form for this season’s title fight with Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel.
“If you are at the office and your boss doesn’t want you there it’s going to be a s*** environment, isn’t it? You want to work there but you [also] don’t,” Hamilton explained.
“That’s just negativity drawing away from what you’re great at.
“That meeting was really important to reset things, so when I arrive and the guys know I’m going to be giving it everything, they work that extra bit harder, and vice versa.
“If there’s any negativity or question, it can only hold us back, so it was almost a purification of the relationship, and a re-start of the solid foundation we had already built years ago.”
Hamilton became the natural reference point for Mercedes at the start of 2017, given teammate Valtteri Bottas’s relative inexperience and the fact Hamilton has been with the team since 2013.
But Hamilton does not view himself as Mercedes team leader.
“I don’t look at myself as the leader of the team - I believe I am a small link in a long chain,” the Briton added. “We all play a key link.
"The key is making the link as strong as it can be and that’s what we have managed to do this year.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Ferrari's landmark F1 cars: Kicking off Schumacher's reign
Next article Sauber rescued a "disaster" in 2017, says Ericsson
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Lewis Hamilton
Oscar Piastri on his Singapore puncture: “Ironically, it probably helped”
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Oscar Piastri on his Singapore puncture: “Ironically, it probably helped”
Why Ferrari caved in to Lewis Hamilton’s failed Singapore F1 gamble
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Why Ferrari caved in to Lewis Hamilton’s failed Singapore F1 gamble
More from
Mercedes
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
10 h
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Mercedes: “We had people who hadn’t done a live pitstop for 15 years” in Singapore GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Mercedes: “We had people who hadn’t done a live pitstop for 15 years” in Singapore GP
Latest news
NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
5 h
NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar
Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 6 h
Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026
Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
6 h
Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP
KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP 7 h
KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe