Lewis Hamilton addresses Toto Wolff's 'Lewis the car is bad, please drive it' radio exchange in Austria

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton mentioned that his relationship with team principal Toto Wolff has always been very direct following their infamous radio exchange during the 2023 Austrian GP last week.

The seven-time world champion was complaining about the poor driveability of the W14 around the Red Bull Ring which left him frustrated inside the cockpit. He regularly vented out his frustrations with the car but it was surprising to hear Wolff shut him down and say, "Lewis, the car is bad, we know, please drive it."

But speaking to the media including PlanetF1 at Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton said:

“The best thing about our partnership is that we can be direct with each other and Toto is just an out-and-out racer, so he was just trying to encourage me. That was his way of doing it."

"We always learn from our last races, plus on my side, I’ve reviewed my comments and where I was at mentally and we’ll make sure I adjust that for the future and I feel supported.”

Lewis Hamilton provides an update on his contract with Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton agreed with Wolff that money and length of the contract are not issues in their discussions currently. Speaking to Sky Sports, the Briton said:

"That's correct. That's not what I'm thinking. Before the end of the season, we'll be already well into the contract. I still have 100 percent faith in this team. I'm hoping to be here a lot longer. I feel like I've got another five years in me at least, no? Let's see."

Lewis Hamilton also spoke about the upgrades that the team is planning to run at Silverstone and added:

"Yeah, so we have a new front wing. So it's just one step, hopefully, further in the right direction. It's not a huge, huge package or anything like that. But we're just [going] step by step, hopefully, trying to close down the gap. Obviously, Austria was not a nice weekend for us all. But that's where we learn the most."

"That's when we pull together the most as a team. So, I was in the factory on Tuesday and Wednesday with the team. And everyone's back in, flat out, just focused on turning that negative into a positive here this weekend.

With new upgrades, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to challenge Red Bull and Max Verstappen in Silverstone this weekend.