Mercedes is “disaffected”: will Lewis Hamilton end his career?

In the background a gray factory wall, in front of it Toto Wolff in a black turtleneck sweater.

A little more than an hour had passed on Thursday afternoon since the Mercedes racing team announced that they would accept the result of the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi and not appeal.

Max Verstappen is and will remain world champion of the 2021 Formula 1 season.

Michael Wittershagen

Responsible for sports in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

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This story is far from over.

“I don't think we'll ever get over it - especially not Lewis (Hamilton, editor's note) as a driver.

That's impossible, ”said Wolff, the team boss and co-owner of the Mercedes racing team, in front of the camera when he gave a look inside himself for the first time after the season finale.

Two Mercedes protests rejected

The four minutes between 6:27 p.m. and 6:31 p.m. last Sunday on the Yas Marina Circuit still keep him busy.

Nicholas Latifi had crashed into the track barrier with his Williams, the race management had sent the safety car onto the track, Verstappen used the moment to put new, soft tires on for a possible final attack.

At the Mercedes command post, the experts assumed that this attack would no longer take place, that the race behind the safety car would come to an end and that Hamilton would clinch his eighth title. Finally, the Williams had to be rescued and the track cleaned, the lapped drivers should have been allowed to lap back and only on the lap after - as stipulated by the rules - this race should have been continued again.

That race director Michael Masi didn't stick to it and only got the lapped drivers out of the way between Hamilton and Verstappen and let them go full throttle again with one lap before the end? "I still can't believe that really happened," said Wolff. “It feels surreal.” Mercedes rejected two protests while they were still on the track, after which the team had 96 hours to appeal.

Mercedes does not want this World Cup to be decided in a courtroom. There is a difference between being right and being awarded the right, said Wolff. So he had doubts himself that the team would have succeeded with an appointment. This leaves him and Mercedes at least the role of moral winner, even if fans in the Netherlands and Red Bull supporters see him as a bad loser.

On Wednesday, the FIA, the world automobile association, announced an investigation into the events in Abu Dhabi. In a statement it said that the teams and the Formula 1 leadership should be involved in the analysis and that participants, fans and the media should be provided with clarity about the current regulations. “I don't just expect words, but deeds,” said Wolff and made it clear that he had been having problems with the interpretation of the rules for months because they were no longer comprehensible.

At the Grand Prix of the Eifel last year, all drivers had to lap back before the race was reopened.

“Thirteen months later everything is different.

But that doesn't work, ”he said:“ My values, my sense of integrity are not compatible with the decision on Sunday. ”Despite everything, he tried to celebrate the eighth design engineer title with the team.

Wolff is not yet able to assess what the situation is doing with Hamilton.

“Robbing Lewis is unacceptable.” He has been in daily contact with him since Abu Dhabi.

It was not until Wednesday that Hamilton was knighted by Prince Charles at Windsor Castle.

He smiled in the photos, but the last race still has an effect on him.

"Lewis will never get over this"

Is there a risk that Hamilton will not fulfill his contract, which is dated until the end of 2023? “Lewis and I are disaffected at the moment. Not in terms of sport, we love this sport. With every bone in our body. Because the stopwatch never lies. But when we break with this fundamental principle of fairness, when the stopwatch is no longer relevant, when it comes to random decisions, then this love is lost, "said Wolff:" Then you start to question whether all the work you do have invested, all the sweat, the tears, the blood, really enabling the best possible performance on the track - or whether everything will be taken away from you. Lewis will never overcome the pain and suffering that happened to him on Sunday. "

What follows from this remains open for the time being.

One thing is certain: Hamilton and Wolff will stay away from the FIA ​​gala this Thursday in Paris, where Verstappen will receive his World Cup trophy, although the rules provide for their presence.

Wolff at least sent a greeting to the champion.

"None of this has anything to do with Max," he said.

"He deserves this title." Then Wolff switched off his camera again.