Breaking news
Formula 1
Wolff: Dealing with Hamilton/Rosberg clashes "tiring"
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says that dealing with the controversial clashes between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg has been 'tiring' this year, but is a price worth paying for his team's ongoing success in Formula 1.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Aug 21, 2016, 12:34 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Although the German car manufacturer in on course for its third consecutive title double, with Hamilton and Rosberg having won all but one race so far this season, the campaign has not been without drama.
Collisions between Hamilton and Rosberg in Spain and Austria, and raised tensions after a first corner brush in Montreal, were enough for the team to eventually impose strict deterrent measures on the drivers to ensure there is no further trouble in future.
But despite acknowledging that the incidents have caused unnecessary hassle, Wolff thinks it is a better problem to have than not being competitive.
"I look back at the first half of the season as a positive half because as you said, winning almost every race is definitely what we have hoped to achieve," he told Motorsport.com when asked to reflect on the highs and lows of the first half of the season.
"The controversies and rivalries are certainly something that is not always easy to manage. We accept that, and we acknowledge that it is something which comes from the fact we have two number one drivers who are provided equal material and equal opportunity.
"But it consumes a lot of our time, and that could have an affect long-term. On a positive note, as long as it doesn't happen every race weekend, it has provided some of the narrative of this year's championship.
"My feelings are clear. I would rather avoid it, and avoid some of the headlines, and rather win the races – but I guess we are in the entertainment industry."
He added: "If the teammates are always on the same row of the grid and that happens to be the first row, and it is about winning races and a competition to win the championship, that can spill over.
"Next year it could be totally different – it could be a battle between four or six drivers or even more and then your two drivers would be split most of the time.
"So it is a nice problem to have, but sometimes a tiring one."
Sticking together
Having enjoyed a spell between Belgium 2014 and Spain this year where the drivers had avoided major contact, Wolff is disappointed that there have been two incidents this season.
However, he says that the situation needs to be put into context, and that the team deserves praise for having kept the Hamilton/Rosberg relationship together for nearly four years when history shows such competitive rivalries between team-mates have been impossible for others to maintain.
"We have made it last four seasons," he said. "Fighting for a championship in a competitive car, if you look at some of the other examples in history they haven't made it last more than two years, so I am actually quite proud of the team about how we got to manage it.
"And you need to balance constantly between the positive effect it has in terms of performance, of great drivers pushing each other to new levels and making the car go quicker, and then the downside of a rivalry that always bears the risk of spilling over into the team and damaging the spirit within the team.
"That is a balance that we permanently do. At the moment it is still positive."
Canada harsh
Although the collisions in Spain and Austria grabbed the headlines, Wolff thinks that Montreal was just as 'harsh' a moment when Hamilton and Rosberg banged wheels.
"Spain came a bit as a surprise because a complete wipe out with a car that is capable of providing a 1-2 is something that I haven't experienced before and certainly most of the team members haven't experienced before," he said.
"Then it also provided the story for a future champion to score his first win. Although it was not what we would have expected, it gave F1 a positive spin.
"Nevertheless it is not our duty or main objective to create stories, we would rather avoid those headlines.
"We felt that maybe from time to time it was necessary. If you reach the limits, this is what can happen and neither of them certainly did it on purpose. It was unfortunate coincidences on both sides.
"But then Montreal was a bit of a harsh one. We came out of it okay and then Austria was just something we thought couldn't happen any more because the lesson was learned. But clearly the lesson wasn't learned."
He added: "You don't want to have a guard dog in the car and then expect them to be over-cautious. Nevertheless we expect them to respect the effort behind. And they do that.
"I think each of the incidents has an explanation, but at a certain stage – and this is what we did after Austria, we decided that we don't want to analyse any more. We just don't want contact."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Analysis: Five drivers with a point to prove over the second half of F1 2016
Next article Weekend debate: what would F1 look like as an Olympic sport?
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1 Dec 31, 2024
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1 Dec 31, 2024
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Dec 28, 2024
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Lewis Hamilton
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Formula 1
Formula 1 13 h
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 d
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
More from
Mercedes
The Kimi Antonelli you don't know: Inside the Mercedes garage with F1's new world champion
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
12 h
The Kimi Antonelli you don't know: Inside the Mercedes garage with F1's new world champion
Latest news
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
57 min
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
1 h
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 5 h
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe