F1 Academy head Susie Wolff recently shared a fond story about how Lewis Hamilton helped her open her champagne bottle on a podium when they raced together in Formula Renault 2.0. This was Wolff’s second year in the series, while Hamilton was in his third year.

Back in 2001, Lewis Hamilton officially started his racing career after he was massively successful in Karting championships. He first joined Formula Renault with Manor Sport, making his way up the motorsport ladder. In 2002, Susie Wolff also started her racing career by getting into the same series with Team DRF.

In 2003, Wolff stood on her first podium in Formula Renault in Snetterton. She finished third while Lewis Hamilton, in his third year, won the race.

Speaking on The Red Flags podcast, she shared how the Brit graciously helped Susie open a bottle of champagne when they were up on the podium.

“When Lewis won the race I was P3 and James Rossiter P2 and I couldn’t open the champagne so Lewis had to open the bottle for me. Shows you that he was slightly more used to opening champagne bottles than me at that point,” Susie Wolff said.

The clip of Hamilton helping Susie with the bottle can be seen below:

In that year, Hamilton won his very first Formula Renault 2.0 Championship, winning 10 out of 15 races and collecting 419 points. Meanwhile, Susie Wolff only bagged one podium in Snetterton and finished ninth in the standings with 215 points.

Susie Wolff delves deep into her relationship with Lewis Hamilton

Susie Wolff opens up on her relationship with Lewis Hamilton on the same podcast. She recalled how she had also competed with Lewis Hamilton back in her karting days, and that her family was also acquainted with Hamilton’s at that time.

The 41-year-old also touched on the Mercedes driver’s legacy in F1 and how he has used his massive platform to spread positivity through various means.

“The relationship with Lewis means a lot because we often talk about the karting days, and obviously our families were close because it was a very tight-knit community when we karted. I appreciate so much about Lewis and having seen him kind of over the years become the greatest of all time,” Susie Wolff said at 43:24.

“I admire him so much because he is also been able to use his voice and his power to do so much positive in the sport and to have so much impact,” she added.

Susie Wolff remained connected with Hamilton in later days when the Brit joined the Mercedes F1 team, which was managed by Susie’s husband, Toto Wolff.