Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMercedes

Give Hamilton a break - Wolff

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says people should give Lewis Hamilton a break for his Monaco car accident and self-described "heavy partying" lifestyle.

Hamilton was late arriving in Brazil this week having been suffering from a fever, while it later emerged he had also been involved in a car accident in Monte Carlo in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Hamilton said the incident "was a result of heavy partying" since his world championship victory in Austin, leading to criticism on social media.

Defending Hamilton, Wolff says the triple world champion should be allowed to enjoy his success after performing so well this season.

“My main view is give the boy a break," Wolff told The Sun. “He is the world champion. He has won races. It has been one of the most dominate seasons we have ever seen. He has done it all. Let him enjoy it.

“For me and the team, one thing is fundamental; that the drivers deliver the results. So long as they score the results and continue to driver then the situation is perfectly good for us."

And Wolff says Hamilton would not be taking the same approach to life outside of F1 if the title was still on the line.

“Lewis won the world championship two weeks ago, his second in a row and his third, he has had a dominant season. At the moment, he is the best driver in the paddock. He is not just the best driver because of his talent but because he knows what is good for him and what isn’t.

“Sometimes you have to stretch the limit and probably now we are at the point where he will recalibrate in some way. But it is perfectly reasonable that we give him that space, and even more if you consider he has just become the world champion.

“If the title was not already decided, he would not be out there at three in the morning if it was a different situation in the championship.”

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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.