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» Mercedes chief admits frustrated Brit will NOT be world champion this year » Wolff: We’re too far off ... we must give Hamilton a car that can beat Red Bull
TOTO WOLFF has dropped a hint about Lewis Hamilton’s future at Mercedes, saying ‘We owe him a good car’.
Hamilton’s agreement with the Silver Arrows runs out at the end of the year, but Wolff (below) has set his sights on closing the gap with Red Bull.
And that means giving the Stevenage ace, 38, a machine that carries with it a realistic chance of overhauling Max Verstappen.
Wolff said: “We owe Lewis a good car. It’s difficult when you see how fast Red Bull is at the moment.
“This year Lewis won’t be champion. But we have to start giving him that opportunity in time. We have the organisation to start doing better – to develop the car better than Red Bull.
“We have more wind tunnel time and need to take some good steps.
“Looking at it pessimistically, now, it will be very difficult for us to catch up this season.”
Team principal Wolff, 51, insists he has no intention of quitting as he retains 33 percent of the shares in the team.
And he has a desire to “overcome obstacles” and return Mercedes to the top.
In seven-time champion Hamilton, he still believes he has the best driver – but admits Verstappen is closing the gap. Wolff said: “Max is only 25, right? You wouldn’t think someone of his age would be so mature – even in his outlook on life. That’s impressive.
“What would happen if Max and Lewis were in the same car now?
“The Lewis I know, the Lewis I saw in the second half of the 2021 season, was unbeatable.
“But since then Max has developed even more as a driver and taken the next step. I think it would be very close.”
Verstappen aims to return to his best form in Baku today – with help from top-quality British engineering.
The reigning champion – second on the grid behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc – resumes his quest to make it three championships on the spin in Azerbaijan following a three-week break in which most of his rivals have been soaking up the sun.
But the flying Dutchman has shunned the hotspots and the chance to top up his tan by putting in the hard yards.
The young racer has instead spent time with his British fitness coach – and the engineers at Red Bull’s base in Milton Keynes.
Verstappen has been gushing in his praise of Bradley Scanes, the 35-year-old who has become one of the most trusted men in his inner circle.
The two met at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya back in 2019 – and have been working in harmony since then.
Scanes has a varied background in sport, having also worked alongside gymnast Max Whitlock as part of Team GB.
When not in Buckinghamshire, the team’s director of human
performance has been flown out to Max’s base in Monaco to maintain his employer’s fitness regime.
Scanes said: “We understand each other – the atmosphere between us is really great, it’s always relaxed. It has to be because F1 is one of the most demanding sports.”
It was not unusual in the three-week break between the drivers’ last outing in Australia and their latest race by the Caspian Sea for teams to be given downtime. All the Red
Bull mechanics were given one week’s leave and Mercedes granted race team employees extra rest days over Easter.
Verstappen has been struggling to shake off a virus that bugged him throughout March. He reported being below par physically at the Saudi Grand Prix in Jeddah and in Melbourne – and the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix could not have come at a better time.
But Verstappen chose to iron out issues in the simulator with the engineers.
He feels humbled by the amount of work being undertaken on his behalf and felt it only right that he left his penthouse apartment in Monaco to work with Christian Horner’s staff. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez beat polesitter Leclerc in the sprint race yesterday with Verstappen finishing third after a collision with George Russell, who was fourth. Hamilton took seventh place.