Wolff kept a close eye on Hamilton: 'Seemed like we had three drivers'
F1 News
For Toto Wolff, for many years, the three letters that he needed to look at on his timing screens were HAM for Lewis Hamilton. But, since this year, the seven-time world champion is no longer his driver, meaning he will now focus on ANT for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, along with RUS for the returning George Russell.
However, for the Mercedes CEO and team boss, there were a few moments where his old habits kicked in during the Australian Grand Prix: "When I was looking at the screens at times, the way I looked at it is like we had three drivers, because I was looking at RUS, I was looking at ANT, and I was looking at HAM," the Austrian revealed in Melbourne.
"Then, you realise that HAM is actually with Ferrari and is not with us anymore. He was such a long time [he was with us], it's logical that you can't say, 'He's gone and you don't care anymore'. We very much care about how he is doing, but obviously, on the track, he is the competition, and we have to beat the competition."
Mercedes outperformed Hamilton
In Australia, both Mercedes drivers managed to finish ahead of Hamilton, with Russell grabbing the final step on the podium with a solid third-place finish, while Kimi Antonelli finished fourth on his debut. At his brand-new team, Hamilton had a difficult afternoon, unable to get beyond 10th place and start his Scuderia campaign with just a singular point.
This article was created in collaboration with Ludo van Denderen
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