Lewis Hamilton has revealed that Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, is deeply disappointed about his absence from the Qatar Grand Prix, despite maintaining his presence through remote communication channels.
Wolff missed the Japanese Grand Prix due to a knee operation and had initially hoped to return for the Lusail International Circuit event.
However, his ongoing recovery has necessitated a second consecutive absence.
Addressing speculations that Wolff’s involvement in team operations had diminished during his absence, seven-time F1 World Champion Hamilton clarified, saying:
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“Toto’s in every meeting. I saw someone wrote the other day that he had to call in or something for the last race… it was BS.
“Toto, even though he is not here in person – he is obviously devastated he can’t be here – he is a part of every single meeting, he dialled into the meeting today, he will dial into the meeting tomorrow morning, he’ll be in the meeting in the afternoon.
“He is on the comms just like the guys back at the factory are on the comms for strategy on the weekend.
“He is still 100 per cent fully a part; he’s just not physically here in the country, but he is still a part of those meetings, he speaks in all the meetings as he does when he’s here.”
Hamilton continued to emphasise Wolff’s continued involvement and his significant role in Mercedes’ success, stating:
“He has 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 is the boss.
“I just tell him we will be pushing and not to worry.”
Highlighting their close working relationship and friendship, Hamilton mentioned, “Toto and I are in contact all the time, we are good friends and teammates.
“We do a lot of talking about cars; we hang when I am back home, we have lunch, and we talk a lot about…
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“I am trying to learn from Toto as a businessman, and he is always massively supportive.
“You’re gonna see some things that will shift at least into next year but my progress, he has been such a huge part of that, being open-minded, allowing me to be who I am.
“We have done so much more than I think any other partnership that we have seen in the sport on many levels.”