F1: Toto Wolff denies claims of Lewis Hamilton decline

Hamilton was a lap away from winning the title in 2021 and has struggled so far this season

Toto Wolff has played down claims that Lewis Hamilton has regressed as a driver, insisting that the Briton is not “losing his ability”.

Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula 1 titles, with six of them having come with his current team, Mercedes – including four in a row between 2017 and 2020.

The 37-year-old was one lap away from winning the title in 2021 and has struggled so far this season, but Mercedes team principal Wolff believes that car issues are to blame for Hamilton’s recent underwhelming finishes.

“No, I don’t think it’s like [he is in decline]. He is the best that has ever been,” Wolff told Channel 4, per Planet F1.

“Between Abu Dhabi in 2021 [and] dominating the last third of the season, to four months later, you are not losing your ability.”

Hamilton’s best finish of the season so far has been a third place at the Bahrain Grand Prix, which kickstarted F1’s 2022 campaign.

Since then, Hamilton has finished behind new teammate and compatriot George Russell, 24, in each race.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff (right) with George Russell in Mexico (AP)

“How they appear to me, both of them, it’s very professional,” Wolff said.

“They have been given a car that is a bit sub-par, each of them tries to develop the car further, they have both gone [in] a different set-up direction. Lewis [in Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying] was again very experimental but can be available in the long term.

“I think as long as the car is not good enough to really be racing at the front, the differences are small and I don’t think you can have a pattern saying, ‘George is continuously outperforming Lewis,’ or the other way around.

“We have seen Lewis in Barcelona, he was the genius that we know, so I think what I enjoy is them working together and trying to bring the car back to the front.”