Toto Wolff has revealed an unlikely influence for the rest of his journey as Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.
The Mercedes boss was pictured in deep conversation with the Spanish coach at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix earlier in December, and Wolff has revealed that the pair have strikingly similar approaches to their respective crafts.
After missing out on a first constructor's title since 2013 this season, Mercedes have announced Mick Schumacher as their reserve driver for 2023, and are confident that Lewis Hamilton will not spring a surprise retirement on them, and instead expect him to sign a new contract.
Both are considered among the preeminent individuals in their field; Wolff won an unprecedented eight consecutive constructor's titles in the period 2014-21 and Guardiola became the first team to win a sextuple in 2009 with Barcelona.
'The two of us, we didn’t know each other but when I heard him talking, it was like my sentences, the same approach – and he said the same about me,' said Wolff, talking to the Beyond The Grid podcast.
'Fundamentally, it’s down to human management, and he is someone that is certainly going to be part of my journey going forward because he was just on the same wavelength, and even the family was on the same wavelength between Susie and I.'
The first encounter between the two hugely successful bosses came at a Q&A event for sponsors Puma, where the pair first got the opportunity to pick one another's brains.
Guardiola is known as one of the most forward-thinking coaches in football, so it perhaps comes as no surprise that he might seek inspiration from outside of football in his incessant pursuit of greatness and perfection.
But though both have enjoyed enormous success in their fields, they come into the festive period in positions that they might not have expected to find themselves in 12 months ago.
The Silver Arrows came into the 2022 season with great promise after Lewis Hamilton controversially lost out on the title on the final day, but failed to mount a challenge on rivals Red Bull sue to a consistently under-performing car.
And 2022 was in fact the first season that Hamilton failed to even win a race in his long career in Formula One.
Guardiola's City side, who have been touted as one of the leading teams in the world, come into the new year second in the Premier League table five points behind shock leaders Arsenal.
