Amidst his current slum in performance, Lewis Hamilton can at least bag the support of his former team boss Toto Wolff. Coming of yet another underwhelming weekend, wherein Hamilton called himself “useless”, the Mercedes CEO backs his former driver.
Wolff praises Hamilton’s “emotional transparency”
Having won 6 drivers’ world championships together, Wolff knows a thing or two about the statistical best driver in F1 history. So when discussing Hamilton’s selfcritical comments, Wolff wasn’t surprised.
“That is Lewis wearing his heart on his sleeve,” Wolff explained. “It’s what he thought when he was asked after the session. It was very raw. He was down on himself.
“We had it in the past when he felt that he’d underperformed in his own expectations. He has been that emotionally transparent since he was a young adult.
“He will beat himself up. But he’s the GOAT and will always be the GOAT. [Nothing] will take that away, no single weekend or race season which hasn’t gone to plan. That’s something he needs to always remember, that he’s the greatest of all time.”
Wolff is also no stranger to Hamilton struggling, as the Briton dramatically missed out on an eighth world title, only to be faces with an underperforming Mercedes car in the years following.
“Lewis has unfinished business in Formula 1. In the same way that Mercedes underperformed over this latest set of regulations, we never got happy with ground-effect car, in the same way it [affects] him. Maybe it is linked to driving style.”
2026 an important season
With big regulation changes coming next year, Wolff would support Hamilton staying at Ferrari.
“He shouldn’t go anywhere next year,” Wolff said. “There are brand new cars which are completely different to drive. New power units which need an intelligent way of managing the energy. I hope he’s in [F1] for many more years. Next year is an important one.
He also feels Hamilton is still more than able he can win that elusive eighth title, given the car performs well enough.
“If he has a car underneath him which he has confidence in, and which does what he wants, then yes [he can]. If he has a car which isn’t giving him the feedback that he wants — like the Mercedes of the past few years or the Ferrari which seems to be worse — then not.
“But you ask me if he still has ‘it’? He definitely has it.”
