Toto Wolff feels Lewis Hamilton is in the best place he’s been since joining the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, which has been shown by his reaction to the difficult days he has faced in the car.
A case in point was this year’s Monaco Grand Prix, when a difficult qualifying session left him starting outside the top ten, and although he fought back to finish seventh, he dropped a significant amount of points to title rival Sebastian Vettel, who won the race.
Wolff, the Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, feels the bad days have made Hamilton into a better person, and he has the ability to maximise the result against the odds.
“Lewis is in the best place I have seen him during any of the last five years since he joined the team,” said Wolff. “Not only because he had a great weekend in Montreal – but because he is coping so well with the difficult days.
“This is what the very best are made of. When the fight gets tough, they get over it quickly and maximise their opportunities.”
With regards to the 2017 W08, Wolff feels the car is the quickest on the grid, but they have to overcome some ‘diva’ like properties that make the car harder to drive, such as was seen in Monaco.
”In terms of the car, we’ve joked about it being a bit of a diva,” said Wolff. “But it’s a good car – though sometimes it can be difficult.
“This is something we have to accept so that we can understand and appreciate the many positive characteristics that it has. I believe our car is the fastest on the grid and I wouldn’t want any other.”
