The relationship between Hamilton And Wolff it’s not what it used to be. There are few doubts about this. The fifth round of the season confirmed the sensitive gap from the summit of Mercedes. Despite the exploit of Lewis in the qualification Shootout and in the Sprint Raceit was clear that the excellent result on Saturday at Shanghai it was dictated by the particular environmental conditions masterfully exploited by the seven-time world champion. The Sunday race restored the hierarchies, with the W15 relapse into the limbo of a mediocrity to which the team he seems almost addicted.
In this context of real technical disorientationthe Anglo Caribbean pilot looked for the joker through extreme tuning choices. A measure that ultimately proved to be completely wrong, as the future English Ferrari driver sincerely admitted at the end of the race in the East. Choices resulting from an approach similar to that of the season 2022in which the Sir Lewis Hamilton tried to resolve downstream the many problems that had been produced upstream with the unsuccessful “zero pod” technical project adopted for the W12.
The EPT world champion is very tired of waiting for technical answers from the men led by Toto Wolff that the fact, although they have been making hyperuranic efforts for a long time now, are now unable to find any solution to achieve the much desired performance breakthrough as necessary as the air we breathe, to Mercedes. For its part, the manager Austrian and co-owner of the stable of Brackely seems to no longer feel the debt of gratitude towards the most successful driver in the history of F1. This comes on the sidelines of the Briton’s decision to abandon “his home” to join his rivals from next year prancing Horse
F1, Wolff’s dialectic betrays resentment towards Hamilton
In the declarations following the race in China, Toto he didn’t hesitate to point the finger at the bizarre choices of setup wanted by Lewis Hamilton, so incorrect as to make even the directionality of the single-seater difficult. Long gone are the days when the team principal he apologized worldwide to his champion for having provided him with a “shitbox” at the end of the grand prix Baku 2022. A radio team which caused a stir but which perfectly captured the human yet professional relationship that formed Wolff to Lewis. The choice to leave the ship in the storm prematurely to end his career Ferrari it’s an open wound for the manager of Vienna.
At the TV Austrian confided how Hamilton is in a surprisingly good mood, probably because he is close to saying goodbye. However Toto he finds it difficult to recognize in this attitude the pilot appreciated in twelve years of collaboration. It was almost a given that Mercedes’ lack of competitiveness would no longer cause great concern for the Englishman. The champion of Stevenage is aware that the medium-long term competitiveness of W15 it’s an aspect that no longer concerns him. It is physiological that the pilot peacefully lives the last phase of his very long militancy in Mercedes. But Wolff it doesn’t fit. Russell in this first part of the season he outclassed the Black King in hierarchies.
At the end of the Chinese stage, those who asked if Lewis was soon excluded from technical meetings, Toto he explained that the driver’s contribution in the development of the single-seater is often overestimated. In manager Austrian then stated that the loss of an engineer is much more serious than a pilot, in terms of know-how which can be transferred to a competitor. Objectively, a statement full of ingratitude towards those who contributed significantly to the dominoes Mercedes into the turbo-hybrid era and subsequent cascading triumphs.
Self Mercedes had listened more to his champion in the project W14perhaps the bankrupt slim concept it would have been put in the attic several months in advance. Probably it was the lack of attention to his indications that made the development mature Lewis the conclusion of no longer being central to the project F1 Of Mercedes and, consequently, take the courtship of the historic Modena team into serious consideration. The hope is that at the end of the most successful partnership in the history of the top motorsport category no so-called rags will fly…
Author: Roberto Cecere – @robertofunoat
Images: Mercedes AMG F1 Team
