Lewis Hamilton has revealed a conversation with Toto Wolff at the end of the 2016 Formula One season has allowed his relationship with the team to blossom as he closes in on a fourth drivers' championship.
Hamilton claimed a fifth win in six at the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday -- a result which puts him within touching distance of the title -- requiring a fifth-place finish at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez this weekend. After another turbulent season alongside Nico Rosberg, Hamilton believes the conversation with Wolff was important in improving the team's dynamic.
"I think going and seeing Toto at the end of last year was crucial in solidifying longevity within the team. To just put everything on the table and say what's needed to say. To then build and create a new, stronger relationship which we have done,'' he said. "Toto does an exceptional job in running this team and I am sure there are things we could have done better if we could go back and do them."
Hamilton has cited the arrival of Valtteri Bottas as another reason as to why the atmosphere within Mercedes has improved in 2017. When asked how the dynamic was last year with Rosberg as his teammate, he replied: "For sure, it was uncomfortable. I can't say it was great last year.
"I think it's great also that we are fighting another team so the focus is different. When you've got two strong drivers within a team as we had -- well when the battle is within a team, it's like a hurricane of strong energy. It's not been directed anywhere. It's just stuck in a room whereas now, together, we have this hurricane, bundle of energy, which we are firing into a car and moving us forward. It's just overall a much happier dynamic.
"The dynamic works really well here. I think Valtteri naturally wants more and he has more to come. It's not an easy car to drive and to come into a new team with a new team era of car and everything, I think it's definitely been tough. He's just going to go from strength to strength. I will work with him, I don't mind if he wins some races but I don't want him to win them all. I like that he can push me. Particularly at the beginning of the year, that's what he's been doing.''