Fernando Alonso (right) expressed his views regarding Hamilton (left) and Max Verstappen (centre) "building" a team. Photo / Don Kennedy
OPINION
Following the statement by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff that nobody really cares about F1 records in response to world champion Max Verstappen winning 10 consecutive Grands Prix, several F1 pundits have challenged Wolff’s comments.
Wolff also said when Lewis Hamilton was winning consecutive titles and races, he had to fight his teammates for the titles and victories.
“Our situation was a little bit different because we had two guys fighting against each other within the team,” Wolff said.
“I don’t know if he cares about the records,” he added, referring to Verstappen.
“Those numbers are for Wikipedia, and nobody reads that anyway.
“For me, these kinds of records are completely irrelevant. They were irrelevant in our good days at Mercedes - I don’t know how many races we won in a row.
“I didn’t even know that there was a count on how many races in a row you win. Therefore, asking me for a comment on some achievements is difficult because [they have] never played a role in my whole life. But the result shows a great driver in a great car is competing at an extremely high level.”
1996 world champion, Damon Hill, expressed surprise at Wolff’s outburst.
“It sounded a bit churlish, not very gracious, and unlike Toto, because he’s usually very sporting,” Hill said on Sky Sports News.
“I think he’s hurting a bit now. They know what it’s like to be dominated and they didn’t even get on the podium. They seem to be a bit stymied and can’t seem to work out what to do, but who can?”
Former driver and Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle agrees with Hill.
“Sport can and should be tribal, but you must surely also appreciate a level of excellence in others,” Brundle suggested.
“So, I was a little surprised and disappointed that Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff played down this achievement over the weekend, because they rightly received their due reverence and appreciation during their years of total domination from 2014 to 2020.”
Nico Rosberg was with Mercedes from 2010 through to 2016, and provided the team with its first win in 2012 in China.
His teammate was Michael Schumacher, who Rosberg got the better of. Then Hamilton joined the team in 2013, and although they had been friendly rivals coming through the motor racing ranks, their partnership would become quite acrimonious. Rosberg has admitted he was angry at being beaten by Hamilton to the title in 2014 and 2015, but got his revenge in 2016 when he became world champion and retired from F1 five days later.
Battling Hamilton had taken too much out of him. Hamilton has recently commented that his teammates have always been tougher than Verstappen’s, noting he had Fernando Alonso at McLaren in 2007, Jenson Button at McLaren from 2010 to 2012 and then Rosberg at Mercedes. He has a point, when you consider Verstappen’s teammates have been Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo, Danni Kvyat, Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez. But like Wolff’s put-down of Verstappen’s winning sequence, Rosberg obviously knows Wolff and Hamilton well, and he has tried to explain Wolff’s statement.
“I think Toto got in a moment there where he was not too happy about his own team’s performance on the weekend,” Rosberg said following the Italian GP.
“Because, of course, where they finished, fifth and sixth - [being] miles behind Ferrari and Red Bull is not really the goal.
“So, I think Toto was just a bit down there and made his answer a bit darker and not quite as gracious; not quite as gracious as perhaps he would normally be, because I think the right answer would have been [to say] ‘hats off and respect to Red Bull for their achievements’.
“We all care about records, of course. And we think a lot about records. So even Max, who always says, ‘No, I don’t care about 10 races’. What does he do when he gets out of the car? He puts both of his hands up and points [out] to the world that that’s 10 in a row.”
Three-time world champion Sir Jackie Stewart has upset Hamilton by stating: “The truth is, in the last decade he competed with Mercedes for a team that was virtually out of competition. During this time, Lewis only had one real competitor - his respective teammate,” Stewart said.
“Except for [in] 2016, he always emerged victorious from the duel. And then he lost to Nico Rosberg. With respect: a good driver, but not the most talented in the world. But Rosberg was hungry and had the absolute will to become world champion. Lewis no longer has that hunger. Because of that, and because the car is no longer quite as powerful, he has serious problems.”
Hamilton’s responded, without mentioning Stewart by name.
“There are people who are very [small-minded] that make the comments that they do, not knowing the work that has been done in the background.”
For Alonso, the Red Bull result suggests there is something wrong with the regulations.
“If you look at third on the grid, a non-Red Bull, to the last, sometimes moving into Q1 is very difficult because in four-tenths there are like 16 cars. So, in this sense, equality has been achieved.
“On the other hand, something has failed, because of the last 25 races, 24 have been won by a Red Bull [car]. That was not in any of the plans,” Alonso noted in reference to the FIA change of regulations introduced in 2022.
“I don’t know how those people eat or drink,” he quipped.
“They are the best at everything: they have the fastest car and driver, they don’t make mistakes, they make the fastest pit stops, the best starts, the best strategies. At the moment there are no weak points, and all the teams are working hard to find one for them.”
Alonso has questioned the reference to drivers like Hamilton and Verstappen building a team around them.
“I think this is something that is always said about drivers building teams,” Alonso told the Telegraph.
“But when Lewis went to Mercedes, he didn’t ‘build’ anything. It was just a change in regulations that built everything for him. And when Max joined Toro Rosso and Red Bull, it was still Hamilton winning everything.”
“He didn’t ‘build’ a winning Red Bull team. In 2021 it was very close between them, and now with the change in regulations last year, Red Bull will win every race so far this season.
“So, I don’t know exactly what we mean when we say you can ‘build’ teams around you because I think this is a sport where, you know, technical decisions, technical regulations, inspiration from the design office or wind tunnel or something like that normally makes no difference [to] your input, your personality, your way of driving.”
Stewart was asked how he would describe the job of Verstappen, Hamilton and co.
“While drivers now drive in 24 races a year, I had 65 when I was at my peak,” he replied.
“Back then I still had to drive in rallies, Indycar, touring championships and many other competitions to earn enough money. This meant we travelled a lot more back then. My record for most Atlantic crossings in one year is 61!”
So, would he rather be one of today’s drivers?
“Yes, of course! It’s more comfortable for drivers at every level. Across competitions, [there are] fewer races, better travel, more pay and pure luxury at [modern] Grands Prix. We used to sit in tents through which the wind whistled,” he added, with a Monty Python touch. But Stewart acknowledged that these days, the drivers are followed at every turn by the media.
“Every action is evaluated. It was different in our day. We also went out for a drink with the journalists in the evening, and the content of the conversation wasn’t in the newspaper afterwards.”
The Singapore GP will be held this weekend - a race Verstappen has never won. Liam Lawson will drive the Alpha Tauri again as Ricciardo is still recovering. Verstappen is chasing consecutive win number 11, while Lawson would love to record his first point in F1, even if it won’t feature in the record books.
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