© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff comments on Lewis Hamilton winning his seventh world title and compares him to other all-time greats.
Lewis Hamilton made history today by winning his seventh Formula 1 championship and equalling the record previously held by Michael Schumacher. With the Briton’s contract with Mercedes expiring at the end of 2020, Toto Wolff was asked when a contract extension could be signed.
“It just got really more expensive today,” said Wolff.
“”More than likely we are looking towards the end of the year. It’s not that we wouldn’t find time for each other, but I don’t want to put ourselves under pressure to say ‘before Bahrain’, or ‘before Abu Dhabi’ that we will announce a new contract.
Despite Hamilton recently stating that he is not sure if he will remain on the grid in 2021, Wolff is certain a new deal will be reached.
“He loves racing and the competition, as does the team. If we didn’t have the competition against the stopwatch then life would not be as fun.
“So I see us going for more next year, putting another great year on, and then we have this tremendously challenging regulations change for 2022 so we will go for a while.”
The Austrian went on to talk about where Hamilton ranks among the all-time greats.
“Where does it rank? I mean he ranked in terms of his record on Michael’s level, in terms of driver world championships, and is the absolute record holder in pole positions and race victories.
“Today, he cemented his position among the all-time best sports people in the world.”
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Wolff says the 2020 championship was more difficult than usual for Lewis, because of the restrictions put upon him due to COVID-19.
“I think it was very difficult, because staying in the bubble within his apartment with [his physio] Angela [Cullen], and trying to make sure he can finish the championship, is certainly not easy.
“But it was important, and also today, even when on the grand scheme of things, the absolute result didn’t matter a lot for his championship, he stayed hungry, he made no mistakes at all, and it proves how committed he is, holding the discipline to stay at home, and come here and just execute perfectly.”
Hamilton picked up his championship in style, with an amazing win from P6 on the grid. Wolff explains the strategy of keeping Lewis on older intermediate tyres in the final moments of the race.
“I think strategy-wise, we did the right thing to keep him out there, because he was getting faster and faster and faster, and there was no reason to pit him.
“We knew the integrity of the tyre was intact, and in the end we were only a little bit worried if rain would hit us, because the tyre was a slick, basically. So we left it open for him to pit.
“We told him we would be ready if he decided to do so, and he went along, and so that was the right combination of strategy calls.
“The tyres went through different phases. You could see that everybody who, most of the people who bolted on a new set of intermediates, and pushed very hard, had graining after a couple of laps only, and from then on, the tyre didn’t recover.
“Lance [Stroll] was leading the race solid, and put on the new tyre, which I think at that time was the right strategy, and just dropped back. The same with Max [Verstappen].
“I think what the difference made was that Lewis kept it on the road through the difficult phase at the beginning when our car was not competitive.
“He just stayed there and then eked out, the advantage over our competitors was there when it mattered, and understood the tyre, understood how to drive the tyre to go fast and make it last,” concluded the Austrian.
