GPI 2016 Japanese Grand Prix | Page 132

FEATURE “Now the growing feeling among the paddock is that Hamilton does not just run Merc but the whole of Formula One and he has become untouchable.” “But this is Hamilton’s world. A social media bubble where his die-hard fans worship motorsport’s Mr Marmite like a leader of a cult,” added Fordham. Mercedes management played down the affair, with team chief Toto Wolff explaining, “Let him do his talking on the track. His performances in the car justify some collateral damage. After such a race, it is not right to really put the finger where it hurts. In my experience of the last few years, the situation often looks completely different after 24 hours.” “Our main goal is to help Lewis, but there are ten days until Austin so there is no need to hurry — unlike last week. At the same time, it is true that Lewis works best under pressure and when he has a target. I have no doubt it will be a tough fight until the very end. We are still very far from being able to say that it is over.” added Wolff. Mercedes F1 chairman Niki Lauda observed, “In Malaysia, Lewis dominated but then there was the engine failure which was not easy to cope with for him. Then there were the repercussions related to the press conference, but I don’t think that affected him at the start of the race – that was a mistake. After that, he had a great race,” Lauda concluded,