When Toto Wolff met a select group of Dutch journalists for his annual media session at Zandvoort, one topic was how Formula 1 teams can get the best performance from their drivers—and how much freedom a team principal should give a star competitor.
Max Verstappen is the most prominent current example. Red Bull allows him considerable freedom away from Formula 1, including involvement with his own racing team and endurance events such as the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
The Dutchman competes in those events with a Mercedes-AMG GT3, raising the question of whether another F1 team, including Mercedes, would offer a driver like Verstappen the same latitude.
Wolff said the answer depends on understanding each driver as an individual and identifying the conditions that allow them to perform at their best.
“I think every team is different, but I think what I am trying to do is to identify what it is that makes the driver fast within our structure,” Wolff said.
“What kind of framework do we need to provide to extract the best performance of the driver, and part of that is obviously the well-being. And that is something that I am very keen on as well.
“I have never put drivers in a box and have never said this is how you need to be.”
“Toto, how on earth can you allow this?”
In Verstappen’s case, that freedom includes competing in other racing series. Wolff recalled an earlier example from his time as an F1 team principal: Lewis Hamilton’s passion for fashion, particularly around the 2018 Singapore Grand Prix.
“I remember Lewis Hamilton with his fashion collection back in the day and there was this Singapore race. I remember it was 2018 or 2019, when he launched his Tommy Hilfiger collection,” Wolff recounted.
“He had a fashion show in Shanghai where he FaceTimed us. He was grateful that Mercedes changed from Boss to Hilfiger to allow him to have his own collection. He showed everything and said, look at this, this is my catwalk, this is my collection. I can’t believe it!”
The fashion show in Shanghai took place on 4 September, but Hamilton still had another commitment before travelling to Singapore: New York Fashion Week, where he was scheduled to present his collection in the United States.
“And then he flew from Shanghai to LA or New York, and did it there,” Wolff recalls. “Niki Lauda said to me back in the day, I cannot comprehend why you allow this. We are racing in Singapore next weekend, so how is this even possible?”
The criticism grew when Hamilton’s journey to Singapore was delayed, leaving him due to arrive late for the first engineering meeting.
“Lewis said that he needed to do another stopover in London or so, I don’t even remember. He calls me on Wednesday and says that it will be touch and go, arriving on Thursday for the first engineering meeting.
“I replied, do me a favour, because I’m already getting lots of shit here for you doing a 360 around the world in funky clothes!
“But then he called me again and said, I’m late, the flight has been delayed. So Niki says to me, I really can’t believe how you can allow that.”
“Lewis, please don’t let me down this weekend”
Hamilton’s performance in Singapore demonstrated both Wolff’s willingness to protect his drivers and the way Hamilton repaid that trust on the track.
“When he arrived, I said, ‘Lewis, do me a favour. I’ll take it from you here, I’ll take all the criticism from everyone, but just don’t let me down this weekend.’
“Understood, he said, and this is when he had this unbelievable pole position. There was that sensational lap and then he won the race, disappearing in the distance.
“After the race he came back to me and said, that was a good deal, no?”
Wolff said Lauda eventually accepted Hamilton’s activities away from the circuit, provided they did not affect his performance during a race weekend.
“Niki said to me afterwards, ‘I’m never going to criticise it anymore, even if he flies to the moon before a race!'”
Hamilton took pole position in Singapore by more than three-tenths of a second over Verstappen and six-tenths over title rival Sebastian Vettel. The Mercedes driver won the race by almost nine seconds from Verstappen and secured his fifth world championship just over a month later in Mexico.
