‘I don’t want a divorce’ - How a meeting in Toto Wolff’s kitchen saved relationship with Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff says his relationship with Lewis Hamilton hit rock bottom when the British driver missed out on the world title in 2016 — but a Christmas party in his kitchen proved to be a turning point. Hamilton’s then team-mate Nico Rosberg had beaten the now seven-time champion to the overall trophy, and it led to questions about whether he wanted to stay with the German team. Ad/> But Wolff says he managed to convince his star man to come to his Oxfordshire home for crunch talks, albeit “reluctantly”.

Formula 1World champion Verstappen sets pace at testingYESTERDAY AT 17:21 “I said we need to decide whether we want to work together or not,” Wolff told The Times. “You want to win as a driver, I want to win as a team. Sometimes our different agendas are going to lead to conflict and we need to decide whether we can cope with that situation.

“We were in my kitchen. I said to him, and Susie didn’t much like this analogy, that even though Susie and I might disagree about something, it would never come into my mind to divorce. ‘And it’s the same with you Lewis,’ I said.

‘I don’t want a divorce. You’re the best driver. I want you in our car and we want to provide you with the best car.’ “We kind of went into this discussion at loggerheads and then, after four or five hours in the kitchen, we found ourselves on a totally different level.