"Lewis functions best when he is under pressure...I have no doubt this will be an intense fight to the end," says Toto Wolff
Monday 10 October 2016 20:56, UK
Toto Wolff does not believe Lewis Hamilton's performance at the Japanese GP was negatively affected by the fallout from the Snapchat press conference controversy.
The Mercedes chief has also backed the Briton to take his title fight with Nico Rosberg down to the wire.
Hamilton slipped 33 points behind his Mercedes team-mate at Suzuka after Rosberg claimed his fourth win in five Grands Prix, with the Briton's race again undone by a poor start from the front row.
Hamilton takes blame for start
During the Suzuka weekend the reigning champion came under fire from the British press for playing on his mobile phone during the Thursday drivers' press conference and then deciding against answering questions in his usual post-qualifying press briefing.
But Wolff, Mercedes' head of motorsport, reckons Hamilton was not distracted by those off-track incidents.
"I've seen a Lewis in Malaysia that was really on a roll, dominating the weekend and then obviously we let him down with the engine failure," said Wolff. "That was an easy one [win] for him to bring home.
"During the week he was okay and then all these things around the press conferences… whether that affects him or not, I don't think so because it is just not his priority I guess.
"I wouldn't bring it down to that that the start didn't go well because the racing was great afterwards. How he recovered was really exceptional."
For the first time this season, Hamilton's bid for a British-record fourth world title is out of his hands with Rosberg now able to finish second in all the remaining four races to become champion for the first time.
But although Wolff acknowledges Rosberg has a healthy points lead, he reckons the increasingly challenging situation will galvanise Hamilton.
"Thirty-three points is a lot, but you can see how quick it goes from Malaysia," he said. "This is still a mechanical sport.
"The way Nico tackles the championship, looking at each weekend as a singular event, has proved to be the right strategy for him. Equally, Lewis functions best when he is under pressure and when he has a target and I have no doubt this will be an intense fight to the end. It is far from over."
Hamilton flew back to Europe from Japan with Wolff and Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda on Sunday night, but the Mercedes team boss said they would not be dissecting the events of Suzuka with Hamilton straight away.
"We need to calm down and find out what happened, regroup," added Wolff. "In my learning from the last couple of years, 24 hours later things look completely different than they appear an hour after the race. So our main emphasis will be on building him up and just enjoying the ride home [from Japan].
"We have 10 days, it's not such a rush like last week. He's going to come back strong in Austin."
Don't miss The F1 Report's review of the Japanese GP on Sky Sports F1 at 8.30pm on Wednesday evening.
