‘I fired them’ – Toto Wolff reveals he secretly SACKED warring F1 duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg after crash

MERCEDES Formula One boss Toto Wolff has claimed he sensationally SACKED both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg after their famous crash at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.

Hamilton and Rosberg came through the ranks as close pals in karting, but saw their relationship turn sour over four years together when vying for the F1 drivers’ championship with the Silver Arrows.

Their battle climaxed in Barcelona when the title rivals collided at Turn 4 of the opening lap of the race.

Rosberg had been leading the championship by 43 points going into the race, though Hamilton had earned pole in qualifying.

German driver Rosberg had the better start of the pair and took the lead into Turn 1, with Hamilton coming back at him at Turn 3 before the Brit went off track, spun and hit his team-mate at Turn 4.

The collision left both out of the race, with Hamilton later admitting it was the angriest he had ever seen German boss Wolff react as he recalled seeing “bald patches” in his hair from pulling parts of his barnet out.

Rosberg also later revealed how he and Hamilton had been made to pay $360,000 (£270,000) in damages because of the crash.

Almost a decade on from that flashpoint, Wolff, 54, has now revealed he was so angry that he had actually told both drivers they were no longer part of the team.

Speaking to The Athletic, Wolff revealed his one rule is for drivers not to crash into one another, which Hamilton and Rosberg broke more than once.

He said: “We accept them racing against each other as long as they respect certain red lines. And that is very simple: don’t crash into each other.

“And I have never had any fear of making that very clear. In 2016, Rosberg and Hamilton crashed, and then they crashed again.

“So I fired them. I called my chief executive officer, Dieter Zetsche (at the Mercedes-Benz automotive company), and said, ‘Listen, you need to sign something.’

“And he called me back and said, ‘You’re making both drivers redundant?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, because otherwise they won’t understand how important it is to the interest of the brand and the team above their own.’

“It was their personal rivalry that took over. And from a healthy competition, it went to a rivalry and it became animosity.

“And that’s just not something I would allow in the organisation, and based on these factors, we sent them an email and said, ‘At the moment, you’re not part of the team.’

“On Wednesday, we called them and said, ‘Come in tomorrow,’ and I said, ‘My problem is that I don’t know whose fault it was.’

“Because it’s nuanced. Like everything in life, it’s never 100 per cent wrong. It may be 50-50. It might be 51-49. It [could] be 70-30. And I can’t judge.

“And so what I said to them is that if it happens again, one has to go, and I may make a mistake. I may send the wrong one away.

“People who need to repay their mortgages who work in the [Mercedes] factories, what do they think?

“That you two crash into each other because you don’t like each other? And it directly affects the lives of 2,500 people.

“Who do you think you are? And that’s an important understanding that you need to have with your drivers.”

SunSport has contacted Lewis Hamilton for comment.

Rosberg, 40, went on to win the title that season, beating Hamilton by five points before retiring to save Wolff from having to make any decision over the future of his driver pairing.

Meanwhile, Hamilton, already a three-time champion by that point, went on to win the next four F1 titles in a row with Mercedes to equal Michael Schumacher‘s record for the number of championships.

He came agonisingly close to becoming the outright record holder with eight titles.

Teenager Kimi Antonelli currently leads the drivers championship, with Brit George Russell nine points behind in second.

The pair have won all three races so far this season for Wolff’s Mercedes.