FEATURE
I
n the aftermath of Lewis Hamilton’s scathing
rant after he retired from the Malaysian Grand
Prix, while comfortably leading the race when
suddenly his engine went up in smoke with
the finish in sight, Toto Wolff reveals that the
world champion made amends by addressing the
team hours after the race at Sepang.
Wolff even condoned Hamilton’s provocative
and disparaging remarks, whereby the Briton
suggested that there was a conspiracy within the
team working against him.
Wolff said, “What Lewis said, it’s completely
understandable. But he came back to the garage
and shook the hand of every team member.”
“We talked in a small group and we were
all really down. Then he stood in front of the
team and found the words to lift everybody and
help us recover quickly for Japan. This is what
the great drivers do, the true champions, and I
must express my respect for how he conducted
himself.”
“One of the greatest qualities of our group
is how we come back from defeat even stronger
than before. We will do that again now, in time for
Japan next weekend,” concluded Wolff.
Immediately after the incident Wolff was
almost lost for words after leader Hamilton’s
engine exploded 15 laps from victory in Malaysia,
instead it was a DNF while his Mercedes
teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg recovered
from a first lap melee to finish third and extend
the lead in the title race to 23 points.
Wolff admitted he did not have the answer.
“This is a mechanical sport, with so much
technology, but sometimes you get blindsided
by situations with no rational explanation. It’s a
freaky coincidence.”