Toto Wolff has revealed his belief that Lewis Hamilton has very little chance of winning the Formula One world championship this year.
After Hamilton was robbed of a record-breaking eighth title by race director Michael Masi in Abu Dhabi, the assumption was that he would return hungrier than ever to dethrone Max Verstappen and assert his dominance over the sport.
However, what Hamilton wouldn’t have accounted for is the fact that Mercedes’ car is, at least at this point in time, not competitive. The Ferrari and even the misbehaving Red Bull look considerably quicker out on the track.
While the Mercedes team will be working tirelessly to right the wrongs and there is a long way to go before we can absolutely rule them out of the running, Toto Wolff seems rather pessimistic about Hamilton’s title prospects this time around.
He’s quoted by The Sun saying: “If we look at the pecking order today, it seems it will be a very long shot to even think about being in contention for the drivers’ or constructors’ championships,” said Mercedes team principal Wolff.”
“We probably scored the maximum points that we could have on Sunday, and we need to take it from here. Every weekend counts.”
“But at the moment we have to be realistic and when you are third on the road you cannot think about winning it.”
Mercedes fans hoped that Wolff and co had an ace up their sleeve ahead of the race in Bahrain. They didn’t, with the podium finish a complete fluke. Just how much confidence they will have in the team turning the current car into a potential title winner, having seen it in action on Sunday, is a different matter entirely.
