With Lewis Hamilton’s time at Mercedes coming to an end, the focus these past few weeks has been on the special moments he has spent with the team. Toto Wolff, who grew close during his association with the Briton, recently shed light on their friendship and some of the gifts Hamilton gave him as a gesture of gratitude.
In a conversation with Hollywood actor Dax Shepard, Wolff revealed how Hamilton had given him the first-ever edition of the MV Agusta bike. “He says, you know, you’ve done so many great things and you and I together and I wanted to I’ve never given you a gift,” Wolff recalled on the Armchair Podcast.
Shepard joked, suggesting that Hamilton gifting only a bike in return for the six World titles Wolff had helped him win seemed insufficient. Wolff, however, disagreed. There was another gift, one which could be worth an “unlimited amount of money”.
Wolff further added that Hamilton used to customize his race helmets once every two to three races. Being quite emotional about their aesthetics, he would not give them away easily.
So, it was an honor for Wolff when Hamilton gave him a “priceless” helmet of his. “I think he’s given me his most special one”, he said. “When Niki Lauda died, who we were very close, both of us, he made a Niki Lauda design helmet for the Monaco race in 2019. So he gave me the Niki Lauda Memorial helmet for the Monaco race win, and he wrote something nice on it.”
New #NikiLauda tribute helmet of @LewisHamilton @MercedesAMGF1 for #MonacoGP#lauda #hamilton #lh44 #mercedes #monaco #f1 pic.twitter.com/FfdVxjulbb
— F1 Helmets (@F1HLM) May 26, 2019
Lauda was a key figure in the Mercedes team. Besides being a non-executive director, he was part of the inner circle of the Brackley-based outfit and also gave his input on the car development and the team’s overall functioning. Lauda was the key negotiator who brought Hamilton on board at Mercedes in 2012-13, and the rest is history.
How Lauda’s convincing pitch to Hamilton changed his career
Back in 2012, Hamilton was racing for McLaren. While he was a bit frustrated with the Woking team’s lack of efficiency and consistency with the car performance and team operations, he was still in a top team, competing at the front.
At the same time, Mercedes was in the midfield, struggling to even score points on a regular basis. But Lauda and Mercedes had a long-term plan to make a big step forward with the turbo-hybrid engine regulations coming into effect in 2014.
The three-time world champion pitched the idea to Hamilton — reportedly at the 2012 Singapore GP. The Briton viewed McLaren as still being a top team, whereas Mercedes barely had the fourth or fifth-fastest car. Thus, it was a significant gamble for Hamilton to trust Lauda and Brawn’s vision and make the switch to the Silver Arrows.
Still, Hamilton made the move, and it proved to be a masterstroke despite widespread criticism and doubts. While McLaren regressed in the pecking order, Mercedes became the class of the field after 2014, enabling Hamilton to dominate F1.
