Publications
Partners
Six consecutive Formula 1 constructors' titles and five F1 drivers' titles are the notable achievements by Mercedes Formula 1 team principal Toto Wolff and the sport's most successful driver in the turbo era, Lewis Hamilton.
F1, like many other sports, is a shutdown period due to the coronavirus pandemic as the travel-heavy series is on hold.
Published on Mercedes' in-house YouTube channel, F1 pundit Martin Brundle sits down with the enduring dynamic duo and probes them on what makes them so successful.
'The enduring dynamic duo'
Hamilton and Wolff both joined the team in 2013 and said they've built their relationship since then by sharing a common goal: to be successful. But they have hard conversations too, and are honest with each other to that criticism isn't taken personally.
Wolff says despite their roles being very different in the team, their stress levels and responsibilities are similar. They encourage one another with a positive WhatsApp message, and that goes a long way on sending the other on the right trajectory.
The pair's birthdays are quite close together, Hamilton on 7 January and Wolff five days later on 12 January and share the same star sign. "It makes it easier that we're both Capricorns, both stubborn, both massively driven, and so that's probably why it works, potentially."
Hamilton says Wolff first came onto his radar when the Austrian bought a share in the Williams F1 team in 2006, but that it was a distant relationship back then.
One of Wolff's first memories of the six-time world champion is a photograph taken in 2005 he has of his godson and son sitting on Hamilton's Formula 3 car with the Briton in the middle.
And when things get tense in the team, Hamilton says they've had disagreements but never a bust-up. "We've always been transparent with each other, whether you like it or not, I think that's been as healthy as it is."
They respect each other, and this 30-minute long interview gives fans of the team and sport fantastic insight into a successful partnership.
Their relationship is comparable to that of US basketball Michael Jordan and former Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson, and we all know how successful they were.
