Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is reluctant to duel with his former protégé Lewis Hamilton in the Formula 1 title race.
“I’d rather not be with him [Hamilton] fight for the title because I know what he is capable of. When he smells blood, he starts,” Wolff is quoted as saying by “formula1.com”.
Hamilton won the Ferrari for the first time at the Barcelona/Catalonia Grand Prix on Sunday. Since Kimi Antonelli was out in the Mercedes due to a technical defect at the same time, the seven-time world champion was able to shorten his gap to the Formula 1 leaders. 41 points separate the 41-year-old from the Italian youngster.
“I have experienced for many years that the Lewis-Hamilton train suddenly started rolling and then it was very difficult to stop it,” recalled Wolff.
The Mercedes team boss sees Hamilton as a real World Cup threat to his Silver Arrows. “Yes, definitely. We are still at the very beginning of the season, the gap is 41 points. A failure costs you 25 points, and everything is still completely open,” calculated Wolff.
Formula 1 raves about Lewis Hamilton
The Austrian attested to Hamilton’s “hard work” on the way to his first Formula 1 race victory in 686 days.
“This is a really great day for sport. This is historic. He is the greatest of all time,” enthused “Sky” expert and ex-Mercedes colleague Nico Rosberg on Sunday.
“It’s great what Lewis Hamilton is doing now. He gets along really well with the car right from the start and is now starting to become the team leader again. Of course, Charles Leclerc has to look a little bit now. That’s doing something to him,” said Ralf Schumacher, also happy with the Brit.
“We have strong competition, but we will continue to work hard and want to close the gap,” said Hamilton himself, commenting on the World Cup duel with Mercedes.