Wolff says the bigger picture of success is what counts Picture: @tinnekephotography
Toto Wolff says that a three-year title drought for Mercedes will not overshadow the earlier successes achieved by the team during the Lewis Hamilton era.
The Brackley team won seven drivers’ championships from 2014 to 2020, with Hamilton earning six of them and Nico Rosberg winning one.
The team also took the constructors’ title in each of those years, plus an eighth in 2021.
However under the current regulations the team has failed to repeat that dominance and has only rarely had a car that was capable of winning races.
Despite that Wolff says that the bigger picture is what counts.
“It’s the most competitive motorsport in the world and we were lucky and blessed with winning eight consecutive World Championship titles,” said Wolff. “That wasn’t done before in any other sport.
“And Lewis won [six] drivers’ championships. You cannot extrapolate from that that you’re going to win forever, or that you’re in the hunt for every single championship. That doesn’t happen.
“And the regs were changed twice and we maintained the level of performance and won championships. And then we’ve just been caught out by these new regulations in 2022.
“Until today, we’re just not able to put steady performance on the car and provide the drivers with something that is predictable, that has enough downforce, that doesn’t bounce or hop, that rides where the ride is acceptable, where the tyre degradation can be managed in the right way and not be too cold or too hot. And that is how sport goes.”
Wolff also made a comparison with an all-time great of the basketball world.
“Michael Jordan played 12 seasons or whatever, he won six championships… Were the other six a failure? And I think we’ve been together 12 years now in this championship and we won eight. Are the other ones a failure?
“We finished third two years ago, we finished second last year, bearing in mind we haven’t won a race, and we won three this year. So that is not all a failure.
“That was a pretty good spell for Mercedes and for Lewis. And we will be trying to do it better. We are trying to do it better every single day, every single weekend. And the same will be next season, and then the big one in ‘26.”
Wolff indicated that it hasn’t really hit home that Hamilton will be leaving the team in the coming weeks.
“There is no overwhelming emotion now that this is ending, but I’m sure the closer it’s going to come to Abu Dhabi and the last sessions, the last race together will be quite a thing, because we had this wonderful partnership for such a long time.
“But having said that, Lewis is not going to disappear. Lewis is going to be on the grid next year with a Ferrari. We are not losing the person, we are just losing the driver. But we embark on a new future.
“We have an 18-year-old and a 27-year-old that are going to be our drivers. And that is super exciting. And at the same time, personally, we wish Lewis all the best and happiness. And maybe a car that’s not so fast! But nevertheless, it is a decision he took. And we’re OK with that.”
Adam Cooper F1 