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Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says he considered putting Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg “on the bench” during their rivalry, but believes it could never happen again with Lewis.
At the Turkish Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton could be heard snapping at his race engineer Peter Bonnington on the radio, as he was displeased with the team’s strategy choices.
Toto Wolff reveals there are limits to which his drivers are allowed to go regarding the public airing of grievances.
“This is Mercedes,” the Austrian told the Daily Mail.
“We have no place for the genius jerk. Even a superstar driver has to respect team values. But with Lewis, we’ve been eight years together now.
“He’s not an arrogant, spoiled little kid. He’s a mature racer who has won seven titles, six with us, so we can take those moments, it’s part of our role to be a trash bin for the driver sometimes.
“In the car, you can get very frustrated and emotional. You are racing at 200mph, in the rain, you have no idea about the overall picture of the race and decisions are being made that you cannot understand.
“In the early years I would bite back at Lewis. He was very young and I had to make the point that I wouldn’t allow the driver to bad-mouth the team. But we’ve been moved on from there a long time.
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“Still, I wouldn’t hesitate in the future if a driver talked bad about the team or wasn’t appropriate, I would first deal with it internally and if that didn’t yield results I would take the driver out of the car. On the bench, yes.
“I don’t think that would ever be Lewis. He’s a team member, not a contractor, a driver that comes and goes. We’ve been together since 2013. We know each other so well, there’s so much trust and respect.
Wolff then reveals he was close to giving a race ban to Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg, during their explosive and very public rivalry.
“I was close to putting a driver on the bench when it was Lewis and Rosberg. Twice. In 2014 and 2016.
“I said I would judge over 48 hours whether one needed to sit out. I still don’t know who it would have been. But that was long ago.
“It is unimaginable given the relationship I have with Lewis today that it could happen now,” concluded Mercedes’ team boss.
