Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Recommended for you

Can Red Bull now fight for wins everywhere? "It's difficult to be on par with Mercedes consistently"

Formula 1
Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
Can Red Bull now fight for wins everywhere? "It's difficult to be on par with Mercedes consistently"

Alex Marquez makes “unacceptable” gear-shifting mistake twice in wretched Japanese GP

MotoGP
MotoGP
Japanese GP
Alex Marquez makes “unacceptable” gear-shifting mistake twice in wretched Japanese GP

Andrea Stella: F1 must avoid Sepang repeat, but "accept occasional glitches"

Formula 1
Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
Andrea Stella: F1 must avoid Sepang repeat, but "accept occasional glitches"

Bubba Wallace "paid the price on our front tires" in battle for Vegas win

NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Las Vegas II
Bubba Wallace "paid the price on our front tires" in battle for Vegas win

How Elfyn Evans made WRC history in Hollywood blockbuster Sardinia decider

WRC
Rally Italy
How Elfyn Evans made WRC history in Hollywood blockbuster Sardinia decider

Winners & Losers from MotoGP's Japanese Grand Prix

MotoGP
MotoGP
Japanese GP
Winners & Losers from MotoGP's Japanese Grand Prix

The added consequence of George Russell's retirement in Malaysia

Formula 1
Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
The added consequence of George Russell's retirement in Malaysia

“Even faster than Ferrari” – Fernando Alonso grabs Aston Martin’s best result of F1 2026

Formula 1
Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
“Even faster than Ferrari” – Fernando Alonso grabs Aston Martin’s best result of F1 2026
Breaking news

Mercedes: We won't silence Hamilton

Mercedes says it has no intention of stopping Lewis Hamilton from speaking his mind after Formula 1 races, despite the controversy caused by his remarks following the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 with the media
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid retired from the race with a blown engine
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 on the grid
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid retired from the race with a blown engine
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid retired from the race with a blown engine
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid retired from the race with a blown engine
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 on the grid
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 with Johnny Herbert, Sky Sports F1 Presenter on the drivers parade

Hamilton fuelled conspiracy theories about his latest engine failure when he suggested something 'odd' was going on and that 'something or someone' doesn't want him to win the world championship.

Wolff said that he was comfortable in allowing Hamilton to tell the media exactly what he thinks – even though he says suggestions of a conspiracy are wide of the mark.

"Every remark, every answer is allowed after such a frustrating moment," explained Wolff. "If you have the lead of the race, you're just about to get in front in the championship, your engine blows up and then you have a microphone put in front of your face…

"He's allowed to say whatever he wants. It's emotion and it's completely understandable, and each of us would have expressed this frustration in different ways.

"And there is no explanation [for the run of failures]. We came together afterwards and sat down and said 'how is this possible?'. It's a freaky situation that has no rational explanation. And I think after recovering a bit, he just sees that and that's okay. But in the heat of the moment - no problem."

Although Hamilton was upset immediately after the race, Wolff said that things had calmed down following private talks with team management later on – which left him convinced the situation would not drag the team down.

"This team in the past has come out much stronger from these lows - like in Singapore last year, for example," he said. "And that was because we're sticking together.

"When he came back into the garage immediately, he came to see Bradley [Lord], Niki [Lauda] and myself, and went to every single mechanic to say how he felt. And then afterwards we had a discussion with him in a small group.

"We were just all really down from the incident and then we regrouped everybody, all mechanics, all engineers, and we had a chat to bring everybody up. And he said some great things about the team and hopefully that's going to make us recover quickly for Japan."

Wolff also revealed that Hamilton actually made an effort to lift up the team from what had happened.

"Although being a driver he's very much frustrated and emotional about the situation, he was trying to pick up the team, which only the greatest do.

"In such a moment, to come out there and to say in front of all the mechanics and the engineers and to find words to pick them up for the next race and to encourage them is... it's what he did and it was really great."

Don’t miss our Japanese GP video preview…

Previous article Sainz to Red Bull: "I want to race for top team in 2018"
Next article Ocon boosted by revised seating position

Top Comments

Latest news