One year after the death of Niki Lauda, Lewis Hamilton looks back on his best memories with the triple World Champion, who convinced him to join Mercedes in 2013, with the success we know today.
In 2012, Niki Lauda joined Mercedes, by whom he was commissioned to recruit Lewis Hamilton. The British driver was looking for a change of scenery after several frustrating seasons with McLaren, and it was the Austrian who hired him to join the team which, since 2014, has outrageously dominated Formula 1. L ” Last year, the six-time world champion paid tribute to him by wearing one of his helmet designs in Monaco. While he has not yet been able to run this year in May, he remembers the best memories he has retained of the triple World Champion, and their first joint discussions, which marked him.
“The best memories I have with him probably come from my first conversations”, he judges. “We started chatting in 2012 and I remember being at home during the day, having a call from Niki who was trying to convince me to join the team. It was very cool to have a call from a World Champion , and an icon like Niki. We were having good conversations but these were the initial stages. Having the support of someone like Niki requires tremendous respect and shows that there is mutual respect. “
“I thought he didn’t value me as a driver, but it was. We then met in Singapore, he came to my room and we had a good conversation .I think that’s the time when Niki said to me ‘oh my god, you’re like me in a lot of things. ’We have a lot more in common than I expected and what I assumed “He probably thought he shouldn’t draw conclusions about people.”
The discussion between the two men was fruitful, as Hamilton was announced as Mercedes driver for 2013 a week after the Singapore 2012 Grand Prix. Hamilton remembers Lauda’s sound advice on the obligation for a driver to take on a role central in a team of which he wishes to be the leader, of the questioning which he imposed on him, and of the gestural codes of the Austrian to indicate to him that he had done a good job.
“He was always thinking about how we can progress. The biggest sign from Niki was, if you did the job right, that he took off his cap, it was his way of saying ‘well done’. We often talked after the races and he would ask me things like, “Hey Lewis, what do you need to be better?”. He was always looking. “
“If there is one thing that I learned with him, it must be that. As a pilot, and in a team, you must work together but you must also lead it. You must lead the team, ask questions, work, and push everyone. Niki taught me how to approach this in a work environment and I think I can apply it everyday in my daily pilot life. I am grateful for this opportunity, and I would like [toujours] Niki. I know his spirit is with us every race. “
–
