Lewis Hamilton has become a better person after losing the “complications” in his life since joining Mercedes, team boss Toto Wolff believes.
After coming through the ranks with McLaren, which was notorious for the strict environment enforced by Ron Dennis, a new Hamilton emerged when he left in 2013 as his personality exploded, becoming an international celebrity in the process.
That change largely coincided with great success on the track as Mercedes became the dominant force in 2014 and now the Briton is on course for his fifth title in six years.
“He’s an integral part of the team and has developed as a racing driver, but even more spectacularly as a human being,” Wolff said in a mid-season review this week via Formula1.com.
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“When he joined from McLaren, he was like a raw diamond in a sense. You could see complications in his life and maybe a lack of stability in understanding what was needed.
“All that disappeared through the Mercedes years and every year he became a better Lewis and – knock on wood – in the last two, three years we’ve barely seen any mistakes.
“And if they happen, he’s the first one to admit them and that has contributed to our culture of being brutally honest with each other.”
While the sight of Hamilton bringing his bulldogs and scooting around the paddock was very different to what he would do at McLaren, the Mercedes boss claimed that and his non-F1 passions should be encouraged.
“We need to stop putting people in boxes, and say ‘this is how a racing driver has to behave’, but simply make the effort to simply try and understand the human behind the helmet, and try to carve out a framework that makes that person the best ‘him’ or the best ‘her’ and makes them perform at the very top,” he stated.
“I believe that Lewis’ various other interests – music or fashion – take his mind off between the races.
“Having a good time is something I think is very positive and very important for his performance on the racing track.
“We are very open with each other with what we do. We ‘Facetime’, we send videos and I feel in a very good place with him.”