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Hamilton form not affected by off-track dramas, says Wolff
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff insists that Lewis Hamilton's title challenge is not being hurt by his off-track dramas, as he tipped the Briton to take the title fight all the way to the finale in Abu Dhabi.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: May 5, 2021, 4:31 PM
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Hamilton caused a stir in Japan when he clashed with media over what he claimed was 'disrespectful' coverage of the way he behaved in a pre-event press conference.
He walked out of a media briefing later in the weekend, and then on Sunday night hit out on Twitter at an 'idiot' who reported that Mercedes had lodged a protest against Max Verstappen's late race defensive moves. The tweet was later deleted.
With Hamilton having lost further ground to teammate Nico Rosberg in the title chase thanks to a poor start, there were suggestions that Hamilton was beginning to feel the pressure of the championship battle.
But Wolff is convinced that there is nothing to worry about, and he suggested that Hamilton would actually get empowered by the conflicts.
"I've seen a Lewis in Malaysia that was really on a roll, dominating the weekend and then we let him down with the engine failure," explained Wolff. "That was an easy one. He should have brought it home.
"During the week, with all these things around the press conference, what happened [on Saturday], whether it affects him or not I don't think so, because it is not his priority.
"I wouldn't bring it down to the start because the racing was great afterwards – how he recovered. It was really exceptional."
Hamilton flew home with Wolff and fellow Mercedes chief Niki Lauda on Sunday night, ahead of taking part in a Pirelli tyre test on Wednesday.
Wolff said that he planned to speak to Hamilton this week to help lift him up, and ensure that he had all he needed to regain ground in the title battle.
"Just after the race is not the right moment to put the finger where it hurts," said Wolff. "We need to calm down and find out what happened and regroup.
"My learning from the last couple of years is I've found that 24 hours later things looks different than they appear after the race.
"Our main emphasis will be to build him up and enjoy the time at home before Austin. We have 10 days. It is not such a rush like last week and he will come back strong in Austin.
"It is not over. There are four weekends to go. He will regroup. Remember when Nico won eight races in a row and Lewis had a winning streak. He is very strong, he needs the enemy, and that is how he functions. I think it is going to go down to the end."
He added: "33 points is a lot but you can see how quick it goes. Look, in Malaysia he's leading, then has a problem and that's a 25 point loss. This is still a mechanical sport and the way Nico has approached it, by looking at each weekend as a singular event, has been the right strategy for him.
"Lewis functions best when he's under pressure and when he has a target. And I have no doubt this will be an intense fight to the end. It is far from over."
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