Wolff: Mercedes success with Hamilton not ‘one dimensional’

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff says the championship winning team does not function within a unique dimension centered around its star driver Lewis Hamilton.

The seven-time world champion has undisputedly been the center of attention of Mercedes’ enduring success in F1 since 2014, at least as seen from the outside.

But placed within the Brackley squad’s inner workings, Hamilton is but a component – albeit a major one – of a well-oiled machine, the elements of which are all optimized and fine-tuned to contribute to the team’s achievements as much as the Briton himself.

In short, Wolff suggests that Mercedes does not owe its supremacy at the pinnacle of motorsport first and foremost to Hamilton alone.

©Mercedes

“It’s not one dimensional,” the Austrian told Motorsport.com. “Formula 1 has always been about best man in best machine wins.

“The best man means the quickest driver, and the most intelligent driver. [He is] the one that understands how the dynamics in a team works, its technical ability, and on the other side seeing himself in the right context within the organisation and not like a solar system where everything revolves around the sun.

“Equally, the organisation around the driver needs to be on its absolute A-game in order to deliver performance in the various areas. This means on the engineering side, on the commercial side, on the political side, and on the communication side, in order to keep the wheels rolling.

“This is a business without a silver bullet, contrary to what most people think – even within the industry.

“It’s a business around marginal gains where everything needs to be in the right place for a team to be successful.”

Hamilton has yet to renew his allegiance with Mercedes for 2021 and beyond. The delay in the two parties signing a new contract has fueled a bout of speculation over the reasons for the hold-up, with money perhaps at the center of the debate.

Mercedes recently dismissed the rumors conveyed by the grapevine, and Wolff is anything but worried about the outcome of his talks with Hamilton, one way or the other.

“It doesn’t worry me at all, because I will always respect Lewis’s decisions,” he said.

“Whether this is staying with us for a long time, or whether that means leaving the sport and pursuing different interests. I think we need to be ready for all kinds of curve balls being thrown at us.

“But at the same time, we talk a lot, and we are very transparent with each other. I think there is more to achieve together.”