Lewis Hamilton has spoken about how Niki Lauda tried to get Toto Wolff to ban him from attending fashion events to focus on his Formula 1 career.
Hamilton has won seven F1 titles, six of them with Mercedes. He joined the Silver Arrows in 2013, convinced in part by non-executive chairman Lauda who played a significant role in getting the Briton to quit McLaren.
But, despite all the success Hamilton had with the team, the Austrian grew frustrated with Hamilton’s desire to get involved in the fashion world. Speaking to GQ, the racer revealed how it came to a head in 2018 when he attended a Tommy Hilfiger party in New York ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.
He said: “I come from a racing world where me and my dad were really the only people of colour, and then when I went to the fashion world, it was so mixed, so diverse. I loved it.
“The narrative [from Lauda] was, ‘Oh, he’s not focused’. But I wasn’t out partying late or drinking like that. I got to Singapore, and I delivered one of the best laps that I’ve ever delivered.
“And after that, everyone was like, ‘Oh, he can do that’. Even Niki would say to Toto: ‘You can’t let Lewis do this! This is not what a racing driver does!’ But eventually I got him to see it, ‘Oh, maybe he can do those things too’.”
Lauda may not have approved of everything Hamilton did, but they had a close bond throughout their time working together at Mercedes. That came to a premature end in May 2019 when, a few days before the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, the 70-year-old died.
Recalling the relationship they had last year, Hamilton said: “I miss Niki so much – we had some of the best and funniest conversations. He was one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. I remember him giving me a call in 2012, asking me to come to the team. I don’t know if I even said, ‘Niki doesn’t even like me, what are you talking about?’
“But we met and we had a really in-depth conversation and he’s like, ‘Oh, you’re just like me’. I’m like, ‘Yeah Niki, I’m a racing driver’. [He said], ‘No, no, no, you’re a hard grafter’. So from that moment, we realised that we had a lot more in common than we both anticipated and we had an amazing relationship.
“We used to fly together to races, particularly back from Japan, and he had the funniest stories that you would just be on the floor laughing, me and Toto with the stuff that he would come out with. He was such a fighter, and he’s still very much a part of the team.”
