Wolff remains driven to help Lewis Hamilton claim his eighth F1 title
Hamilton win an eighth F1 world championship.
In an interview ahead of this weekend’s famous Las Vegas Grand Prix, team boss Wolff also outlined his succession plans at Mercedes.
He plans to skip 10 races each season and said Hamilton, 38, could participate.
need at least five more years in Formula 1. Wolf came to Sin City for the first night race in Las Vegas.
After Mercedes’ terrible performance in Brazil last time out, he said it was the worst performance of his career.
Hamilton finished 63 seconds behind winner Max Verstappen and lamented the fact that he would not be competing for the title for another two years.
Next month will mark two years since the seven-time world champion last won a race.
Michael Masi’s mishandling of the rules in the Abu Dhabi race saw Verstappen eliminated.
After winning the title in the desert, the Dutchman went on to win two more titles with all-conquering Red Bull.
“We live in a hamster wheel where time flies so fast it doesn’t seem like two years have passed,” says Wolff.
You’ll see how quickly admissions can change. We won the Constructors’ Championship for the eighth consecutive year and it’s been two years since Red Bull won the trophy. But we have to look forward and learn from the past and the challenge now is to get Lewis winning again quickly.
“I’m personally upset and I hope he wins his eighth title.
“As a team leader, it’s important to be honest and open with both drivers.
But there’s a big part of us that wants to be a part of that story as we go through 2021.”
Hamilton is set to sign a new two-year contract worth around £100m with the Silver Arrows next season. He will be around 41 when the deal is signed, but Wolff does not believe it will be his last at Mercedes.
“We live from contract to contract and it’s important for us to do what we think is right and what we think is right.
At the moment, we feel it can work longer,” added the Austrian.
And can it last another five years?
Wolff replied: “He will be 39 in January and Fernando (Alonso, 42) is still doing well.” “If you take care of yourself, you will feel your best physically and mentally and improve in many areas by the time you are 25.
We have to give him a fast enough car.
And as a driver I have no doubt about that. You can see in the recent races that he has the performance, speed and racing skills.
But you can’t win if there’s no car underneath,” he said.
Wolff oversaw Mercedes’ dominance, leading Hamilton to six of his record seven world crowns.
However, Wolff’s future as team leader is in the spotlight after Mercedes’ dramatic collapse.
He has admitted he plans to stay on as team boss, but the 51-year-old, who owns a third of Mercedes’ shares, is preparing a succession plan.
“The clear aim is to build a structure for the future and that is my responsibility to the team,” said Wolff, who missed the races in Japan and Qatar earlier this season after knee surgery.
“What would happen if a rock fell on my head?” So in a few years you might want to see it with 15 instead of 24.
“But it will take years. I have been in this role for a long time.
I can’t imagine doing anything else.
“In 2020, I really thought about whether to do sports or become a shareholder and return to the financial world.
I was mentally and
At Red Bull, Verstappen has won 17 of 20 rounds so far, including a record 10 consecutive victories.
This is the most dominant season in sports history.
Wolff sparked controversy by expressing disdain for Verstappen’s performance, calling it “irrelevant” and “only on Wikipedia and nobody reads it anyway”.
“It wasn’t a smart thing to do,” Wolff said.
“There were numbers about how many races I won and I joked, ‘Who cares about those numbers?’ It’s only on Wikipedia and nobody reads it. It was a joke, but it’s much easier to joke about your own posts than someone else’s.
“His record is incredible and his achievements have made him one
