Lewis Hamilton: Toto Wolff on why he gives driver so much freedom

Mercedes

Wolff on why he gives Hamilton so much freedom

The dynamic has been successful so far.

Martin Macdonald

Tuesday 9 July 2019 17:00

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Toto Wolff thinks it is important to give Lewis Hamilton the space and freedom to pursue other interests outwith Formula 1, as that is what allows the driver to perform at his best.

The Brit is a five-time world champion in the sport, but has transcended it into celebrity culture, with him regularly rubbing shoulders with A-List celebrities as well as launching his own fashion line. He has continually said that he needs other activities away from F1 in order to relax, and his boss has agreed, saying the dynamic works for the team.

"Most important is to acknowledge that we are all different individuals and we need different frameworks in order to perform well," Wolff said to BBC Sport.

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"Lewis is somebody who needs to be able to pursue his other ambitions and interests. And rather than putting somebody in a box and saying, 'This is how a racing driver needs to behave - you need to be on time, you need to avoid jet lag before the race, or don't record music overnight when you are jet-lagged but try to sleep,' I realised very early on that giving him the freedom of pursuing his interests, we were able to extract more performance on track.

"I have the feeling that he needs to get his mind off motor racing. If he's able to do a fashion show that excites him, or record some music, or do some snowboarding with his friends, he forgets about the racing side, and he can come back stronger and more energised."

Wolff claims he learned early on that he would have to allow Hamilton a certain level of freedom, but credits the Brit with opening his mind to realise that everyone functions in different ways.

"I realised in previous roles that you need to be able to accept that we all function in a different way," the Austrian continued..

"And sometimes the most creative people, the ones that are able to outperform others and perform on a different altitude, are the ones that live a different life. And you just need to be able to embrace that.

"When you take the analogy to a very popular sport in the UK - rugby - you need the solid members of the team that keep the team going. But you realise that probably the geniuses score the tries, and these are the ones that are sometimes not easy to integrate in a structure that needs process.

"But with Lewis, we love who he is and he is clearly an absolutely outstanding athlete, and we have been able to embed him in the organisation. And he has been able to inspire us and drag us with him."