Wolff recalls ‘I don’t want to divorce you’ peace talks with Hamilton
Hamilton was reeling from losing the 2016 F1 championship to his teammate Nico Rosberg when he visited Wolff’s home for crucial talks.
That meeting has been remembered by Wolff amid the ongoing negotiations to tie Hamilton to Mercedes beyond the end of this season.
“A key moment was at the end of 2016 where we didn’t speak to each other for a while,” the Mercedes team principal told BBC.
“So I invited him to come to my kitchen in Oxford and sit down and have a chat.
“The kind of analogy I gave to him is that also I have arguments with Susie [Wolff, his wife].
“Even if we shout [at] each other, which doesn’t happen a lot, but even if we have these arguments, 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 drivers in our cars and you want to have the best car’.
“So we came to the conclusion that we can have conflicts, we can create an atmosphere where we are able to be brutally honest with each other.
“And sometimes we agree to disagree, but we move on.”
Hamilton went on to claim his fourth F1 title the following season, and now holds a joint-record seven, although dominance has shifted to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who is cruising towards his third in a row.
Hamilton, 38, knows time is running out to secure the outright record of eight titles, but retains faith in Mercedes despite two drab years.
Wolff was asked if he hopes Hamilton stays, and said: “Absolutely. He’s such an important pillar of the team.”
Do you think he will?
“I very much hope,” Wolff replied. “I’m doing everything I can to make him stay.”
Asked how he is trying to persuade Hamilton, Wolff answered: “I think there’s no need to persuade him.
“He knows about all the goodness and although we struggled with the car this year and last year, he will be part of the resurrection of the team.”
Hamilton and Wolff have regularly insisted that a new contract is a formality although it remains unsigned.
Wolff denied a report that they are negotiating a 10-year ambassadorial role for Hamilton after his F1 retirement, as part of the contract talks.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
