Wolff hungry for double celebration
MERCEDES are ready for the next round of celebrations after Lewis Hamilton clinched his fifth Formula One drivers’ title in Mexico.
The team are now looking to crown that feat with the constructors’ title at Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix in what would be their fifth consecutive double of drivers’ and constructors’ wins.
“We’ve lost points to Ferrari in the constructors’ battle at the last two rounds, but while we know there’s a tough fight ahead, we’re fully focused on securing the double and ending the year in style,” Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff said.
“Our target for this season was to win both championships, not one title or the other, so our mindset is one of unfinished business as we head to Sao Paulo.”
Mercedes will seal the constructors’ title if Ferrari do not outscore them by more than 12 points at Interlagos on Sunday in the season’s penultimate Grand Prix, ahead of Abu Dhabi.
Although Hamilton has the drivers’ title wrapped up, Mercedes battled with tyre problems in the last two Grands Prix in the US and Mexico, which were won by Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Hamilton finished fifth in Mexico on October 28 in what Wolff described as “a bittersweet weekend”. Mercedes “cannot be satisfied” with the race performance in Mexico, he said.
“Qualifying looked promising but just a few laps into the race we knew that we’d run into big issues with the tyres,” Wolff said.
“We started to analyse those problems immediately after the race and have made progress with understanding the challenges we faced and why. It’s important to apply all our learnings to make sure we come back strong in Brazil.”
Ferrari will be hoping Sebastian Vettel can now put behind him the disappointment of losing out in the title race to Hamilton.
Vettel won last year at Interlagos, where Formula One has seen some of its most dramatic battles, and has three Brazilian GP victories to Hamilton’s one in 2016.
“We will try to beat Mercedes in the constructors’ championship and knock them off their throne to give them a taste for next year,” Vettel said.