Lewis Hamilton clarifies true impact of Toto Wolff absence after ‘BS claims’
Lewis Hamilton has claimed that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is ‘in every meeting’ despite being forced to stay away from the racetrack at the moment after going under the knife for knee surgery.
It was first revealed that Wolff would be taking a break from the pit wall ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix with communications director Bradley Lord and aspiring team principal Jerome D’Ambrosio sharing his duties at Suzuka while he faced his surgery.
After missing the trip to Suzuka it was unclear whether or not he would return in time for the Qatar Grand Prix with the decision eventually made that the 51-year-old would remain at home as he continues his recovery.
Speaking to Motorsport.com about the impact of Toto’s absence, Hamilton said: “Toto’s in every meeting. I saw someone wrote the other day that he had to call in or something for the last race, which was BS.
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“Toto, even though he’s not here in person, and he’s obviously devastated he can’t be here, he’s a part of every single meeting. He dialled into the meeting today, he’ll dial into the meeting tomorrow morning, he’ll be in the meeting in the afternoon, he’s on the comms just like the guys back at the factory on the comms for strategy all weekend.
“He’s still 100% fully part [of everything], he’s just not physically here in the country. And he’s a part of those meetings, he speaks in all those meetings just as he does when he’s here.”
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Hamilton also insisted that the Mercedes boss had earned a couple of weekends off after what has been another stressful campaign for the Silver Arrows. The Brackley-based team are locked in a fierce battle with Ferrari to secure second place in the Constructor Championship.
He continued: “He’s worked incredibly hard to set up this team to be where it is today. And he should be able to have weekends off without a problem. He’s the boss. Shoot, if I owned the team, I’ll definitely take weekends off!
“Not that he’s taking the weekend off. But you know what I mean? He has the right to if he wanted to, but it’s just because he’s recovering. And I just tell him we’ll be pushing. And I just always tell him, don’t worry, you set up a great team, we’ll try [to] do you proud this weekend.”
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