‘F***ing hell’: Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff’s tense conversation revealed in Drive to Survive

Tensions were high as Hamilton battled Max Verstappen for the drivers’ championship

The stress of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s title race was revealed in a tense scene in Netflix’s Drive to Survive, with the Mercedes driver admitting that the Azerbaijan Grand Prix gave him “nightmares”.

Hamilton was beaten by Verstappen in one of the closest and most unpredictable title races in F1 history and tensions were high throughout the season as the campaign unfolded.

It is shown in the latest season of the popular documentary Drive to Survive, which was released last week ahead of the 2022 campaign.

The show has its critics, including Verstappen and Lando Norris, who said producers had manufactured a fake rivalry between him and team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

But is also offers a behind-the-scenes look at the F1 paddock, with an exchange between Hamilton and Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff revealing the mental toll of the title race.

After the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, in which Hamilton made a rare driving error that cost him victory, the seven-time world champion is seen in an intense discussion with Wolff in the Mercedes garage.

“Gives me nightmares, Baku. It f***** me up,” Hamilton says. Wolff responds: “Just reduce our mistakes and then we are five points ahead.” To which Hamilton says: “Baku, f****** hell.”

Verstappen was already out of the race, having suffered a blown tyre, when a red flag led to a restart with two laps to go.

But Hamilton ran wide on the opening corner of the restart, eventually finishing 15th and missing the chance to score vital points with Verstappen already out.