“You’ve got the wizard and the sorcerer’s apprentice” – Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has learned from his mistakes and is eager to manage Lewis Hamilton and George Russell well.
Mercedes have a brilliant pairing lined up for next season, with reigning champion Lewis Hamilton and future champion George Russell. Despite Russell coming in with a lot of ambition, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is confident there’ll be no conflicts between the duo.
“I think we as a team can manage it much better now than maybe back then [Hamilton vs Nico Rosberg] when we slid into the unknown.
“The dynamic between George and Lewis will be completely different. You’ve got the wizard and the sorcerer’s apprentice and I think they are both aware of that division of roles.”
Toto Wolff blames himself for Hamilton vs Rosberg
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg did not see eye-to-eye when they were partners at Mercedes. It all ended with the German winning the title in 2016 and announcing his retirement.
Toto Wolff was the team principal then and has taken the blame on himself for the friction between the duo. And having learned from it, is confident of dealing with Hamilton and Russell seamlessly.
“I have to put that on myself. But I was quite virginal in the role then. It’s different today. I didn’t know the past of the two drivers and maybe with the team then I didn’t react robustly enough to avoid these things.
“But Nico was also in a completely different situation to George. Nico was in the middle of his career, had been with Mercedes for six years in 2016, came earlier [to Mercedes] than Lewis. That’s why the dynamic was different.
“With Lewis, we have a driver who has now been at Mercedes for eight years, has a great career and is still in the middle of setting more records. And on the other hand, we have a young, up-and-coming talent who keeps putting in extraordinary performances like at Sochi and Spa in the rain.”
