Wolff: Nobody foresaw hostility between Hamilton and Rosberg
Toto Wolff believes Mercedes could not have foreseen the hostility between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, saying there was historical context "none of us knew, and will never know."
After being teammates in karting, Hamilton and Rosberg raced at Mercedes between 2013 and 2016, going head-to-head for the Formula 1 world championship in their final three years together.
The title battles featured a number of tense moments between the two drivers, including on-track collisions at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix and the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.
Upon beating Hamilton to the world title in 2016, Rosberg announced his immediate retirement from F1, prompting Mercedes to sign Valtteri Bottas as his replacement.
Speaking about the competition between Hamilton and Rosberg on Jake Humphrey's High Performance Podcast, Mercedes team boss Wolff dismissed the idea that the friction helped bring out the best in the drivers.
"I'm not sure it gets the best out of both, because that is negativity, and you still have to be a team player," Wolff said.
"If the debriefing room is full of negativity, because the two drivers are hostile with each other, then that will spill over into the energy into the room, and that is not something I will ever allow again."
Wolff explained how he was unable to get to the bottom of the friction between Hamilton and Rosberg, saying there was "historical context" Mercedes was unaware of, and that he may never fully understand.
"I couldn't change it, because the drivers were hired before I came," Wolff said.
"Nobody actually thought what is the dynamic between the two? What is the past between the two? There was a lot of historical context that none of us knew, and will never know.
"That's why it is something that we're looking at, how do the drivers work with each other, what happens in the case of failure of one and the other.
"We accept the annoyance and pain if it goes against one, but we're trying still to keep the positive dynamic in the team."
After some early-season tension in 2014, Hamilton and Rosberg first came to blows on-track at Spa when Rosberg refused to back out of an early on-track battle. He later told the team it was in response to Hamilton ignoring team orders at the previous race in Hungary.
Wolff worked to nevertheless create an environment in which both drivers recognised that nothing was more important that the team result, and the importance of representing the Mercedes brand.
"It was very difficult, because I came into the team as a newcomer in Formula 1, and Nico and Lewis had been in the sport for much longer," Wolff said.
"But still I was able to create an environment where they had to respect the team, sometimes with an iron fist, and they understood that they couldn't let us down, they couldn't let Mercedes down.
"In the events of 2014, I felt there was some selfish behaviour. I said the next time you come close to the other car, your teammate, you think about the Mercedes brand. You think about single individuals in the team.
"You think about Dieter Zetsche, the CEO of Mercedes. That's going to change the way you act. You're not going to put your teammate into the wall.
"I always made clear that if this was going to happen regularly and there was a pattern, I have no fear in making somebody miss races."
Related video
Previous article
Ocon: Alpine has "no margin" in battle for F1 points
Next article
The day Jenson Button won a Grand Prix while standing still
About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Drivers | Lewis Hamilton , Nico Rosberg |
| Teams | Mercedes |
| Author | Luke Smith |
The AlphaTauri improvements that mean Gasly’s form is no fluke
Pierre Gasly has driven superbly since demotion from Red Bull in 2019, but the team formerly known as Toro Rosso has come on strong too – building a car that can often challenge Ferrari and McLaren. Here Gasly reveals to ALEX KALINAUCKAS how AlphaTauri has given him the tools needed to rebuild his reputation
Why Bottas feels the time has come to be “more selfish”
We’ve seen five distinct versions of Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes as he’s tried to fulfil his own ambitions while being a consummate team player – two difficult, competing missions which have been challenging to reconcile. Speaking exclusively to Stuart Codling, Bottas explains his highs and lows… and why he still believes he can be world champion.
How long can Verstappen and Hamilton keep it clean?
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have been evenly matched so far in the 2021 Formula 1 title race. Neither has been afraid to get aggressive against each other on track, teeing up an enthralling contest as the year unwinds. But how long will their battle remain clean? Jonathan Noble ponders that exact point
How Brabham’s one-hit wonder was boxed into a corner
The Brabham BT46B raced once, won once, then vanished – or did it? STUART CODLING reveals the story of the car which was never actually banned…
The changes Barcelona needs to provide a modern-day F1 spectacle
Formula 1’s visits to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya over recent years have been met with familiar criticisms despite tweaks here and there to the track to improve racing. With the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix largely going the same way, proper solutions need to be followed to achieve F1’s wider targets
Spanish Grand Prix Driver Ratings
Often described as Formula 1's laboratory, the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona gave the clearest demonstration yet of the pecking order in 2021. And it's the key discrepancies from that order which illuminate who is excelling, and who needs to hit the reset button.
How Red Bull's deja vu set Hamilton on the winning path in Spain
An aggressive first corner move from Max Verstappen appeared to have set the Red Bull driver on course for victory in the Spanish Grand Prix. But canny strategy from Mercedes - combined with the absence of Red Bull's number two from the lead group - allowed Lewis Hamilton to pull off a demoralising reversal
The Barcelona practice times that prove Red Bull has hidden pace
Lewis Hamilton led the way in Friday practice for the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix, but there was one major encouraging sign for Red Bull. However, making good on that gain will require Max Verstappen to avoid repeating a mistake that left him well down the FP2 order...
