Lewis Hamilton claimed in an interview with GQ Magazine that Toto Wolff was under pressure from former Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda, a three-time champion, to reduce the Briton’s extracurricular activities outside of Formula One.
Lewis Hamilton has discussed how Niki Lauda attempted to persuade Toto Wolff to forbid him from going to fashion shows so that he could concentrate on his Formula 1 career.
Six of Hamilton’s seven Formula One championships have come from Mercedes. In 2013, he became a member of the Silver Arrows, partly due to the influence of non-executive chairman Lauda, who was instrumental in persuading the British driver to leave McLaren.
However, the Austrian became irritated with Hamilton’s ambition to enter the fashion industry despite all of the team’s accomplishments. The racer told GQ in an interview that it reached a breaking point in 2018 when he went to a Tommy Hilfiger party in New York City just before the Singapore Grand Prix.
“I come from a world of racing where my dad and I were really the only people of color,” the man stated. “But when I went to the fashion industry, everything was so diverse and so mixed together.” I adored it.
“Oh, he’s not focused,” was Lauda’s narrative. However, I wasn’t out drinking that much or partying till late. When I arrived in Singapore, I turned in one of my best laps ever.
“And everyone thought, ‘Oh, he can do that,’ after that. Toto would hear even Niki say, “You can’t let Lewis do this!” This is not the job of a race car driver! Still, I was able to persuade him that, “Well, perhaps he can accomplish those things too.”
Even though Lauda didn’t agree with everything Hamilton did, the two remained close during their time at Mercedes. That ended abruptly in May 2019 when the 70-year-old passed away a few days prior to the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.
Hamilton reminisced about their relationship from the previous year, saying: “I miss Niki so much; we had some of the funniest and best talks. Among the funniest people I’ve ever met was him. I recall him calling me in 2012 and requesting that I join the team. I’m not sure if I ever said, “What are you talking about, Niki doesn’t even like me?”
“However, after our lengthy conversation, he said, ‘Oh, you’re just like me.'” Yes, Niki, I am a racing driver, I say. “No, no, no, you’re a hard grafter,” he said. We discovered then that we had a great relationship and that we had a lot more in common than we had thought.
“Toto and I used to fly together to races, especially the ones returning from Japan, and he would always come up with the funniest stories that would leave us both laughing uncontrollably. He remained an integral member of the team and was such a fighter.”
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