Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMercedes

Driver warning was to whole team - Wolff

Toto Wolff says his warning about changing the driver line-up at Mercedes was also aimed at the other members of the team.

With Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg's rivalry becoming more tense towards the end of the 2015 season, Wolff warned he would be willing to change the pairing if any animosity spilled over to effect the team. In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Wolff says he wants the drivers to fight as hard as possible without impacting on other members.

"We had a more relaxed approach this year, letting them fight it out on the track and it might have a new dimension next year," Wolff said. "I want to contain it. I don't want fighting in the team. I'd like the boxers to fight but not the trainers and the physios and everybody around the ring.

"I'd like the boxers to behave like boxers who fight very hard but after the fight has finished, you can be a sportsman and embrace your enemy. But the dilemma is there. It is easy when it is theory."

And Wolff says it won't just be the drivers who are guilty if it starts to have an impact on those around them, urging the team members to maintain harmony within the garage.

"Understand that you are a role model. If you cause controversy, your animosity, your moods, your oscillations in behaviour, spill over into the team. People are going to copy you. People are going to react according to that. I want to have a positive mood. That message was not only to them. That message was to the whole team."

Hamilton recently claimed the warning to the drivers was not necessary, correctly feeling Wolff's comments were directed at Mercedes as a whole.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.