“I Can Only Laugh About It”: Toto Wolff Rubbishes Villeneuve’s Recent Mercedes F1 Claims

Lewis Hamilton has been under intense criticism in 2022 for his season. 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve was of the view there was a change of guard at Mercedes after the Miami Grand Prix. Jacques wrote, “Russell rides the wave, Hamilton tries not to drown.”

Villeneuve also noted that although Hamilton is a racer and a champion, in 2022, Lewis lacks the luck and momentum that one could see in the former seasons.

In a recent interview, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff responded to the criticism of Villeneuve. Wolff said to OE24, “I hardly follow it. And if I overhear one or two remarks, then I can only laugh about it. George is doing well.” He also added, “but that’s exactly what we expected from him.”

“It’s just background noise in the press,” added Wolff. “Lewis and George push each other”, which according to Wolff is the most important thing at the moment. 

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Concluding his thoughts, Wolff said he hopes Hamilton gets lucky this season. “However, I am sure that he will also be lucky this season.”

Are Lewis Hamilton’s critics being too cynical?

Among the critics, Lewis’s former teammate Nico Rosberg and former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher have been the leading ones. And while it is also appreciative of former drivers to give their insight, there is very little evidence to support such claims. 

During the Imola Grand Prix, Nico said that Lewis wasn’t doing the best of jobs like Russell. While Russell managed to finish P4, Lewis ended up in P13 as the chequered flag fell. 

“Hang on.. let’s remember that Russell is in P4 with that same car. So Lewis definitely had a big role to play in that poor result this weekend.”

Writing for his column in Sky Sports, Ralf Schumacher noted that Lewis has to admit that Russell is better right now. “We also have to talk about Lewis Hamilton, of course,” Schumacher said. “He has to ask himself why George Russell is so much faster than him. A 13th place is of course not Hamilton’s ambition.”

“He has to admit to himself that Russell is the better driver right now. If this continues in the next few weeks, it will be exciting in the team. There could be changes in the ranking.”

Lewis responds to some of the criticism

The Mercedes driver, on the other hand, says that he is fueled by these criticisms and that he ‘will come back stronger’. Speaking to SkySports F1 before the Miami Grand Prix, he got very candid with his thoughts. 

“Naturally I’ve seen some of the things people who I grown up admitting as a kid, and even in my sport, that have come out with certain comments. Some disrespectful.”

‘Four bad races, or five, six, seven, ten bad races is going to stop me from doing what I love doing. It’s not going to stop me in my tracks. I have been racing for 29 years. I’ve had way more difficult times than this and I’ve bounced back.”

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The seven-time World Champion currently sits sixth in the driver’s standings; 23 points behind his teammate George Russell.