Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has explained why he will never ‘divorce’ Lewis Hamilton as the Briton weighs up his future with the team.
The 38-year-old’s new contract remains unsigned, at least publicly, and Wolff has opened up on his complex relationship with Hamilton, describing the seven-time world champion as a friend.
And he has compared their close bond to that of his wife, Susie, insisting that a meeting with Hamilton seven years ago proves why he would never ditch the 103-time race winner.
“Lewis has become a friend and over years we’ve gone through difficult spells and very good moments,” Wolff said on BBC’s Desert Island Discs. “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.
“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’.”