F1 News
Wolff: 'That's what Lauda would have said about retaining Hamilton'
- GPblog.com
With the signing of a new contract, the renewal of the cooperation between Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes is a fact. It was bound to happen, but despite everything, it took an extraordinarily long time. That also gives much food for speculation, but neither Wolff nor Hamilton really go into details. The fact is that the seven-time champion is now officially on the hunt for his eighth title.
Much in common with Lauda
A key factor in Hamilton's partnership with Mercedes is the late Niki Lauda, who initially approached Hamilton to make the switch. Although Lauda is no longer with us, his outlook, influence and approach still plays a certain role in how Toto Wolff views negotiations.
This is what the Mercedes team boss says in conversation with RTL Germany, with Wolff also looking back on his entry into the team thanks in part to Lauda. "Niki Lauda was the first person from Mercedes to approach me at the time. He said, 'You have to join us.' I wasn't convinced that was a good idea. I think the key moment was when Ross Brawn, the Mercedes team principal at the time, came to our house."
"To be precise, Ross was in my mother's kitchen and over tea, he explained what Mercedes' plans were. It then became crystal clear what Mercedes had done to make it an outright winner and that impressed me," Wolff recalled of the team's early days.
"I went to talk to Niki at the time to negotiate a deal. I think back on that with pleasure. An important part of it was that Niki made it clear to me how much we had in common. Niki said, 'You're basically just like me.' With his racing mentality, Lauda, who died in May 2019, and Hamilton were brothers in spirit."
Niki is always there
As already indicated, the contract negotiations with Hamilton have taken a long time. Would they have taken as long if Lauda had still been alive? An interesting question put to Wolff, with the Austrian stating that Lauda is always there in some way anyway.
"I feel that Niki is always there when there are situations where I would have needed his advice. And this time, too, there were moments when I thought 'what would Niki have said?' Niki had two hats on, so to speak: He looked at something from the driver's perspective, but he could also understand the team perspective."
"Niki probably would have said, 'Lewis is just the best driver, he fits in with Mercedes. We have to keep that combination at all costs'." After this, Wolff backtracks slightly on his words, saying, "Wait, 'at all costs' is not what Niki would have said, maybe more like... 'In the sense of a good sporting future for him and the team.'"