Wolff defends ’slow’ and despondent Lewis Hamilton

Toto Wolff has defended Lewis Hamilton, after the seven time world champion frankly admitted that he is simply "slow" in the 2024 Mercedes.

Once one of Formula 1’s strongest ever qualifiers, the Ferrari-bound Briton’s record against George Russell this year is a dire 5-18 - with the gap blowing out to half a second in Qatar.

"I’m slow - the same every weekend," Hamilton, 39, said. "The car has felt relatively decent, no problems. I’m just not fast anymore."

When asked if he thinks the situation will improve once he’s in a Ferrari and going up against Charles Leclerc, Hamilton added: "I have no idea.

"At this point I don’t care. I’m looking forward to the winter break."

Mercedes team boss Wolff, however, played down any interpretation that Hamilton has simply arrived at the point in a F1 driver’s career where he starts to lose his edge.

"He just doesn’t like this car," the Austrian told Viaplay in Qatar.

"In a strong car Lewis can do incredible things, but the development of the car has gone in a direction that he is just not happy with," Wolff added.

"You can see that he is trying to get more out of it, but it is not how he naturally wants to drive. He wants to be able to steer sharply and brake hard, and that is just not possible now."

Mercedes struggled with the ’ground effect’-era cars since 2022, but the inconsistency of performance is something most teams have also grappled with.

Max Verstappen, meanwhile, compared his Red Bull with one of his father’s rally cars after the sprint sessions - only to go fast enough for pole on Saturday.

"This Formula 1 is impossible to understand anymore," team advisor Dr Helmut Marko said. "In the sprint, Max is in an undriveable car and even overtaken by (Nico) Hulkenberg. Three hours later, he drives to pole position."

With the title now in the bag, Verstappen joins Hamilton in looking forward to the end of a very long season.

"I am happy that it is almost over," said the Dutchman.

"I am not so much tired, but it is more that I’m living in the dark all the time lately. That was also the case last week in Las Vegas and same for Abu Dhabi. "I don’t want to say it’s depressing, but we all need a bit of sunlight. I’m not a bat."