“So after my meeting with Toto at the start of 2015, I sent him an email just to say, ‘I really appreciate the meeting and thanks for all of your advice etc. Just to let you know, I’ll actually be joining Carlin and Volkswagen as opposed to Mücke Motorsport and Mercedes because I believe it’s better for my career.’
“And I had the opinion that if I went out and did a good job, Mercedes would still be interested.
“So he replied back, ‘I think you’re making a wrong decision but let’s stay in touch and let’s see where we go from there.’”
Despite their early disagreement, the duo would not have to wait many years before igniting their professional relationship.