Mercedes boss reveals he’s always “permitted” Lewis Hamilton to pursue his zeal for fashion

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and star driver Lewis Hamilton share a close friendship that has grown over the past decade. The two spearheaded Silver Arrows' domination in the turbo hybrid era. Continuing his on-track dominance, Hamilton also grew into a fashion icon during the period.

The seven-time world champion has indulged in his interests outside the world of F1, and his team boss permitted him on one pact. When Hamilton's schedule got busier as he attended more events between race weekends, Wolff permitted him only if he continued to perform well on track.

In his appearance in Sky Sports' "Secrets of Success" documentary, the Mercedes team principal recalled an incident in 2018 when he was criticized by the media for allowing his driver to be involved in many activities between race weekends.

"Lewis is a friend of mine and his drive to be creative and successful in the fashion industry is something I permitted from the beginning," the Austrian said. "Because we have that pact – he performs. On that particular week I remember we were sitting with the engineers and he was FaceTiming me."

Between the Italian GP and the Singapore GP in 2018, Hamilton unveiled his fashion collection in Shangai, attended a wedding in Italy, then attended an event in New York before landing in Singapore for the race.

Wolff knew that keeping Hamilton happy was key to allowing him to enter the weekend with a good mindset.

"He was saying: ‘Can you believe that I’m on the catwalk in Shanghai launching my own collection? Thank you for letting me do this. I saw the happiness in his face and I knew that when he’s going to come to Singapore he’s going to be on it because he’s in a good space," Wolff said.

As Toto Wolff predicted, what followed over the Singapore GP weekend was an absolute Lewis Hamilton masterclass. He put in a scintillating lap to grab the pole position and obliterated the field in the race the following day.

"That is the moment when people stop telling me and telling him what to do." the team principal concluded.

With the support from his team, Lewis Hamilton has outgrown the world of F1 becoming a global fashion icon, and weekly trendsetter during race weekends.

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Helmut Marko blames Lewis Hamilton for shattering ex-Red Bull driver's confidence

Former Red Bull driver Alex Albon

Helmut Marko blames Lewis Hamilton for shattering Alex Albon's confidence when the latter drove for Red Bull. During his stint one and a half season stint with the team, Albon scored only two podiums and missed two podium finishes due to collisions with Lewis Hamilton.

The two incidents occurred during the 2019 Brazilian GP and the 2020 Austrian GP when Hamilton hooked Albon's right rear tire sending him off the track and out of podium contention. Marko reckoned that these incidents affected the Red Bull driver's mindset.

"He was turned around by Hamilton and that hit his confidence massively. A P2 and a win was on the table," he said on the Inside Line F1 podcast.

Following his disappointing run in the 2020 season, Albon lost his seat to Sergio Perez.