Harmony at Merc? ‘It sounds like Lewis is not aligned with the team… but he is!'
After two races, Mercedes are without a podium finish - the last time this happened was in 2012.
With the W14 not performing as they expected, Mercedes have confirmed they plan to go down an entirely different development route and change their car concept.
Mercedes’ stuttering performance has led to a number of comments from Hamilton, who claimed the team didn’t listen to his feedback about last year’s car.
In an interview with Sky Sports during the Saudi Arabian GP weekend, Wolff said that Hamilton simply had a “another perspective” and that he remains onboard with the team moving forward.
“In the team we don’t like to paint a picture better than it is,” Wolff said. “We are realistic. Even in the good years, we doubted if it was good enough.
“So we are now in a situation where we know it isn’t good enough. It makes no sense to make it look any better to the outside world, or internally. It sounds like Lewis, saying these things, is not aligned with the team. But he is. As a matter of fact, we want the same thing - to win world championships.
“Some of us had a different view of how to do things. Others had another perspective. In the end, all of us decided together to stick with the concept and make it work, encouraged by the results at the end of [last year]. We got this totally wrong.
“He was one of the guys who said ‘I don’t feel right in this car’.”
Wolff admitted that Mercedes need to “reinvent ourselves” if they are to get back to title-winning ways in the near future.
“We need to change our philosophy in terms of looking at data, analysing it,” he added. “We have to reinvent ourselves. As tough as it is, looking at the lap times, it is a necessary evil.
“The team is happier with me this year than last year. I am emotional. When I have angry moments they just say ‘this is Toto’. As a human I have improved, to be more balanced.”
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