Toto Wolff said he had considered dismissing both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg during Mercedes’ heated 2016 intra-team rivalry, even calling Mercedes CEO Dieter Zetsche to propose making the drivers redundant. He said he sent internal emails that would effectively remove the pair, briefly removed them from the squad by email, and warned that any repeat of the on-track clashes would cost one of them his seat. Wolff cited a sequence of avoidable incidents, including the opening-lap collision and double-DNF in Spain and a final-lap collision in Austria, as the flashpoints that prompted his contemplated action and his warning that “one has to go.”

Wolff framed the contemplated double-dismissal as a last-resort measure to protect the team rather than a personal vendetta, saying the rivalry threatened the Mercedes brand and the livelihoods of about 2,500 factory workers. He acknowledged that assigning sole blame could be difficult, saying “incidents can be nuanced or 50-50,” and that uncertainty led him to step back from sacking the drivers. He described the period as the “Silver War.”

The immediate crisis eased after Nico Rosberg won the 2016 world championship and then retired, while Lewis Hamilton remained with Mercedes.

Sources