Lewis Hamilton has spoken out about Toto Wolff’s continued absence from the Formula 1 paddock, with the Mercedes chief not physically present at this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton said Toto Wolff was “disappointed” as he watched this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix from afar.
This is the second consecutive race the Austrian driver has missed. He was also absent from the Japanese Grand Prix, although this was a planned decision as he was scheduled to have knee surgery.
“I’m leaving Japan, then will have a free weekend,” the Mercedes boss said ahead of the Suzuka weekend. “In Qatar, I wanted to walk without crutches. Then maybe I can even go skiing in the winter. »
However, despite his intention to go to the Middle East, Wolff once again kept his distance. However, as in Japan, he will still be in constant contact with his subordinates throughout the weekend.
However, Hamilton shared how much his boss regretted not being able to travel. “Toto is at every meeting. The other day I saw someone write that they had to make a call or something for the last race… That’s stupidity,” he said.
“Toto, even though he wasn’t there in person – he was very disappointed that he couldn’t be there – he was part of every meeting, he watched today’s meeting, he will watch meeting tomorrow morning, he ‘I’ll be at the meeting in the afternoon.
He’s communicating, just like the people at the factory are doing weekend strategy. He’s still 100% involved, but he’s not in this country, but he’s still participating in these meetings, he’s speaking in all the meetings just like he was here.
“He has worked incredibly hard to get this team to where it is today and he can have the weekend off without any problem – he is the boss. I just told him we were going to attack and not to worry.”
Mercedes driver development director Jerome D’Ambrosio is in charge of the Suzuka racing team, assisted by communications director Bradley Lord. A similar leadership structure is expected to take place this weekend in Qatar.
Regarding his own relationship with Wolff, Hamilton added:
“Toto and I are always in contact, we are good friends and teammates. We talk a lot about cars, we hang out when I come home, we have lunch and we talk a lot about … I’m trying to learn from Toto as a businessman and he still supports me a lot. “You’ll see some things change at least next year, but my progress, he’s played a big part in that, always being open, allowing me to be myself. We’ve done it.” much more than that.” I can’t think of any other partnership we’ve seen in sport at so many levels.”
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