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Posted on: Saturday, April 9, 2022 – 2:33 PM | Last update: Saturday, April 9, 2022 – 2:33 PM
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff believes Lewis Hamilton will be in F1 for many more years, although the British driver’s start to the season has been unsatisfactory..
Mercedes driver Hamilton, who is seeking an eighth world title, is behind rivals from Red Bull and Ferrari. Hamilton is 29 points clear of Monaco’s Charles Leclerc, who leads the drivers’ class, and starts Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix from fifth pole.
Hamilton’s mission is to win, and although he begins the first year of his two-year contract, which is expected to get him 80 million pounds ($ 104.3 million).
So might the underperforming Mercedes machines push him into early retirement?
“No. You can leave if you don’t like what you’re doing now, but Lewis loves what he’s doing,” Wolff replied in an interview with British news agency BA Media.
He added: “Fernando Alonso, 40, wants to continue for the next three years. Today, athletes take care of themselves much better. There is a lot of knowledge of science, nutrition, health and the medical side of it, and Luis is in good shape. His lifestyle is very disciplined now, and he still is. He has many years to come.”
“Isn’t that a great challenge for him? He was at McLaren. Then he moved to Mercedes when he wasn’t great, and he won six titles here. The team is wrong now, but he can be part of the renaissance once more.”
Mercedes has dominated the sport since 2014 – allowing Hamilton to become the star. But Mercedes, winner of the last eight manufacturers’ titles, failed to reach the top under the new rules.
“I don’t sleep, and it’s not because of jet lag. I don’t sleep because I’m thinking regarding how to get to the top. It’s a miserable state of mind,” said Wolff, who oversaw the team’s unprecedented success.
He continued, “I have to look for solutions, and I try to develop myself in order to perform better.”
He added: “Are we going to fight for the world title? My prediction from an arithmetic stance is ‘No, we’re too slow.’ This should be just a passing period and not a long-term downward spiral. It’s going to be fleeting, so we need to get it right now – not on the stopwatch.” But mentally.”