Toto Wolff warns rivals of driven Lewis Hamilton
Monday, 22 November 2021
"They woke up the lion"
Formula 1® "woke up the lion" in Lewis Hamilton when he was disqualified from qualifying due to a DRS issue in Brazil, Toto Wolff says.
Hamilton, who was already serving a penalty for taking a new engine at last week's Sao Paulo Grand Prix, was forced to start from the back of the grid in the sprint race but recovered to take fifth.
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In the main race, the Mercedes man then triumphed from 10th despite an incident that saw title rival Max Verstappen force him wide and avoid punishment.
The FIA dismissed an appeal for that incident to be reviewed again this week, while a stewards' inquiry in Brazil saw Verstappen only fined after he touched Hamilton's car.
These factors may have frustrated Hamilton, but he has not become distracted, instead adding another victory at the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday to close to within eight points of Red Bull's Verstappen.
"Lewis is totally in the zone," Mercedes team principal Wolff told Sky Sports. "They woke up the lion in Interlagos on that Saturday and you see that."
Hamilton added: "The last two weeks have been fantastic, just amazing. But there's no time for celebration.
"I'll be back with the team already again next week and training tomorrow, stay on it, heads down.
"I don't have too much emotion other than being driven right now, but it's just amazing to be able to close so many points in the last two races which has been important.
"[Red Bull are] obviously still very fast, as you could see today with their fastest lap and both their cars getting past pretty much everyone quite easily. So we've still got our work cut out.
"I'm loving it. I love the close battle, the pressure, the demands it puts on you and the whole team.
"So I thoroughly enjoyed it, but these next two races need even better performance, so we'll be bringing our 'triple A' game for those ones."
Ending an intense triple header on a high! 🏆👊
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 21, 2021
This win is for all of the Team back home in Brackley and Brixworth and to you the fans - who have never stopped believing! 💪 pic.twitter.com/54OXEGJdX9
