Wolff: 'Hamilton knows that one day he won't be the best himself anymore'

Mercedes has long clung frenetically to the W13 concept but now recognises that it has gone down the wrong path. Toto Wolff thinks "painful" is not the right word for the lack of performance, but rather calls it "annoying".

Mercedes has tried to catch up with Red Bull Racing and Ferrari but has only partially succeeded. The German racetrack has been plagued by aerodynamic problems all season as a result of the extreme car design that still inspired so much awe in pre-season.

Asked if he experiences the non-competitive season as painful, Wolff replied in the negative. "This is more an annoyance. It's an annoyance on myself and on all of us in the team that we took decisions that were simply wrong," he told the Performance People podcast.

In the Grands Prix of the United States and Mexico, Mercedes looked more competitive and the team was once again on the podium, but a win still remains out. Reflecting on how Mercedes has recovered, Wolff stresses the importance of not taking the loss personally.

"It's important to not have a sense of entitlement. We don't have that in the team. Fundamentally, it is a professional situation. It is not a personal situation," the Austrian continued.

Recently, Lewis Hamilton revealed that he is keen on a multi-year contract extension at Mercedes. Wolff stressed that the driver is "totally mature and conscious about where he stands in his career". "He's not being led by his emotions like I've seen with sportspeople who think it can go on forever and trying to hang on to it," he said.

According to Wolff, that 'shelf life' can be extended by adopting a certain lifestyle and being very disciplined. "He knows that one day he will not be the best himself anymore. that hasn't happened yet and he's doing everything in terms of how he's performing and how he's living to continue," the Mercedes boss concluded.