Toto Wolff reminisces how his ‘kitchen talk’ with Lewis Hamilton dodged a “divorce” with the 7x champion

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff recently revealed details of his conversation with Lewis Hamilton at the end of 2016, when the latter was disappointed after the championship.

Hamilton has been the key driver for Mercedes ever since he joined the team in 2013. He brought in tremendous results and became a fan favorite, breaking records and becoming one of the most successful drivers Formula 1 has ever witnessed.

Wolff recently spoke about the relationship he shares with the British driver on BBC's Desert Island Discs. He mentioned that they haven't always remained very smooth, as there was a period they shared at the end of 2016.

"A key moment was at the end of 2016 when we didn’t speak to each other for a while. So I invited him to come to my kitchen in Oxford and sit down and have a chat."

Lewis Hamilton was understandably disappointed after Nico Rosberg defeated him in 2016 to win his only world championship. The season saw a friendship turn to a brutal rivalry between the two drivers. They shared heated moments like the 2016 Spanish GP where both drivers took each other out on the first lap.

Wolff revealed that he invited Lewis Hamilton to his home in Oxford after the championship and had a deep conversation with him. He added that he used his wife, Susie Wolff's reference to persuade Hamilton to stay.

He told the Brit that he has arguments with Susie as well, but doesn't want to 'divorce' her, obviously, which is also the case between Hamilton and himself.

"The kind of analogy I gave to him was that ‘I also have arguments with Susie, even if we have arguments there’s never a thought of divorcing'," Wolff said.

"I said to him, I don’t want to divorce you and neither do you because I want the best racing driver in our car and you want to have the best car," he added.

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Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff learned to move on after the 2016 incident

The seven-time world champion shares a special relationship with Mercedes. He partnered with Valtteri Bottas after Rosberg and now George Russell sits in the other car.

Lewis Hamilton doesn't have a contract after the end of this season, but it is probable that he will sign another contract, which has been in the works. This certainly shows that the relationship between Toto Wolff and Hamilton has improved over the years.

The Austrian shared that this is because they learned to do work through the conflict and be honest with each other.

"We came to the conclusion that we can have conflict, we can create an atmosphere where we’re able to be brutally honest with each other. And sometimes we agree to disagree but we move on."

Lewis Hamilton is currently fourth in the driver standings for the 2023 season.