Toto Wolff’s Mercedes team is still far behind Red Bull in terms of competitiveness, and Lewis Hamilton hasn’t won an F1 race in nearly two years.
In order to help Lewis Hamilton fulfill his last Formula 1 dream, Toto Wolff promised to channel his “personal anger” toward Mercedes’ difficulties.
Hamilton has a record-equalling seven world titles to his name. But earlier this year he penned a new two-year contract extension to continue his quest to finally secure an eighth before he hangs up his racing overalls.
Next month will mark two years since he last won a race and that ill-fated 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, at the end of which race director Michael Masi’s failure to imply the correct rules left him at the mercy of Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman took the championship in the desert before quickly racking up another two titles in his all-conquering Red Bull. And his team remains the dominant force on the F1 grid with Mercedes still a long way off.
Team principal Wolff remains determined, though, to give his star driver the opportunity to win the trophy that was so cruelly taken from him. “We are living in a hamster wheel where time passes so quickly that it doesn’t feel like it has been two years,” he told the Press Association.
You can see how quickly the pecking order changes. We won eight constructors’ championships in a row, and it has been two years since Red Bull have been taking the trophy home. But we have to look forward, learn from the past, and the push now is to make Lewis win quickly again.
“I have a personal anger, and drive to make him win the eighth title because he should have had it. As a team principal, it is important to be fair and open with both drivers. But there is a big part of us that will always want to be a part of that story in undoing and overcoming 2021.”
That new Hamilton deal is believed to be worth £100million over the course of the next two seasons. He will be a few weeks shy of his 41st birthday when it expires but, still, Wolff is not convinced that it will be his last.
He said: “We are living from contract-to-contract, and it is important that we are doing what we think is right and what we feel is right. At the moment, I personally feel he can go longer. He is 39 in January, and Fernando [Alonso, 42] is still going strong. As long as you look after yourself, you do the best preparation, physically and mentally, and develop different areas to when you are 25, then yes.
“All we have to do is get him a fast enough car. And I have no doubts about him as a driver. His performance, speed, and racecraft have all been evident in the recent races. However, he cannot win if the car is not underneath him.”