Lewis Hamilton says that without Niki Lauda's persuasiveness over six years ago, he would not have joined Mercedes and would still be a one-time world champion today. A sense of joy and perhaps relief after securing his 85th pole position on Saturday in Monaco enticed Hamilton to finally open up and pay tribute to a man he described as his "partner in crime" at Mercedes over the years. While Ross Brawn was the one who laid out the German manufacturer's F1 plans for the Brit at the end of 2012, Lauda was the deal-breaker in convincing Hamilton to move from McLaren to Mercedes. Stewart: Hamilton absence from media day not a 'selfish' act The reigning world champion was reluctant to...
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