Wolff: 'Lewis is never as strong as under pressure'

Having left the Malaysian weekend frustrated, with a retirement caused by mechanics, Lewis Hamilton hoped to take advantage of the Suzuka meeting to make up part of the gap on his teammate Nico Rosberg.

But so much the domination of the German throughout the weekend, Hamilton's bad start and the resistance at the end of the test Max Verstappen, largely thwarted the plans of the former pilot McLaren, today relegated to 33 points behind Rosberg with four races remaining in the season.

A lead which can allow the championship leader to play it safe in the final rounds to come. What should discourage the British? No according to Toto wolff, boss of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, who does not see the situation from the same point of view.

" A new time, Lewis is never stronger than when he is under pressure and has a target, Wolff explains. I remain convinced that it will be an intense fight whose conclusion will be played out in Abu Dhabi.

The last Malaysian Grand Prix showed that things can swing very quickly to one camp or another. Lewis was comfortably in the lead, before losing everything. There F1 remains a mechanical sport. No, it's far from over. There are four weekends left, and Lewis will get back together. »

A little nod to history, the next Grand Prix will take place on October 23 on the Austin track in the United States, the same place where Hamilton secured his third world title last year. In short, a perfect test to continue the defense of this crown, which has undoubtedly never been close to passing to the other side of the Mercedes garage.

Discover the full report and analysis of the Japanese Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in Suzuka, in AUTO issue 2084hebdo, available now in digital version, and on newsstands tomorrow.