Wolff: Off-season break 'less stressful' this year

Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal, Belgian Grand Prix

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says he's been able to enjoy his holidays a lot more this year than he did 12 months ago.

The team had been thrown into panic mode after the 2016 season when Nico Rosberg abruptly announced his retirement. That had left Wolff scrambling to find a replacement driver.

He also had to mend fences with the team's remaining driver Lewis Hamilton, after relations had become increasingly strained during the season. A 'kitchen table summit' helped repair the growing rift, and helped to set up a successful season ahead.

This year there have been no driver dramas to attend to, allowing Wolff to spend some quality time at home with wife Susie and their new baby boy.

"It's definitely less stressful than last year," Wolff agreed. "But who knows what's coming in the next few days!"

The team is returning to its Brackley headquarters to continue work on its 2018 contender. The pressure will be on Hamilton to repeat his title success.

"His performance [in 2017] was unbelievable," Wolff commented. "He does not lack motivation even after four championships.

"I feel like he's seeing that Michael Schumacher's seven titles are within reach," he added. "We'll do everything we can to give him the car to do that."

Wolff exploring idea of Mercedes B-team

The team is currently in negotiations with Hamilton about extending his current contract with Mercedes beyond the end of 2018. Wolff said it was still early days.

"You never know what Lewis is thinking," he smiled.

The Mercedes line-up off the track will be boosted by Niki Lauda's decision to give up media work in order to focus on helping the team to a fifth consecutive constructors world championship.

"It was a very personal decision," Wolff commented. "His role on the Mercedes supervisory board had nothing to do with it.

"The good thing for us is that he now has more time,

"Although in the past, he was always the first into the paddock. When Niki gets to the motor home, the cleaners are normally still at work!"

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.