Lewis Hamilton has responded to Toto Wolff’s comments, in which the Austrian said Mercedes could be forced to drop either Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg if they fail to get along in future.
The tension between the two drivers has grown with each passing race, which led Wolff to describe their relationship as Mercedes’ biggest weakness.
However Hamilton denies their strained relationship is causing problems and believes his and the team’s record breaking season is proof of that.
“It’s blown out of proportion,” he told BBC Radio 1. “We’ve had 16 one-two [finishes] so our relationship isn’t exactly causing problems you know.
“It’s not like he’s been distracted and not finished high up and vice versa.
“I think ultimately it’s easy for people to take things for granted and I think we have both done a great job and we’ve not caused any problems [in the team].
“The energy within the team is as high as its ever been. We’re never going to be best friends but we somehow make it work. There are moments of tension but that’s the same in any kind of sport.
“It’s just a shame it’s not like Hockey you know,” joked Hamilton, referring to the common sight of fighting between rivals.
The 30-year-old also denied his party lifestyle – something Ron Dennis condemned Hamilton for – is to blame for his lack of pace in comparison to team-mate Rosberg in the final races of the year.
“To be honest, this is the first year that I’ve ever really done it and you know what, I’d be partying, I’d turn up, and I’d win the race.
“I think honestly up until this year, I would never really go out. I think last year I went out like three times, I was just so focussed. But it’s too extreme.”
He added: “It’s been one of the most successful – the most successful year – in my whole career. It was just great that when people were writing all those stories, I’d turn up and I’d perform. So I’m going to continue.”
The Briton also revealed that he’s removed the ‘sports clause’ from his contract, which explains why he’s often seen doing things other drivers aren’t permitted to do.
“I do everything, I wake-board, I ski, I skydive. I kind of took the dangerous sports clause out of my contract, and try to do it with a nice balance,” he said.
“I don’t want to go through my whole F1 career only driving, but of course I don’t want to be sitting watching someone else driving my car. So I am very, very cautious when I do things, but I am a bit crazy.
“I enjoy it, and you’ve got to enjoy your work, you work so hard and it’s a long, long year, and you’ve got to make sure you work hard, play hard.””They shouldn’t really call us team-mates as such. The problem is there’s two championships. In football there’s one. Individually we want to win. It’s difficult.
