Wolff: Absence not a factor in Mercedes drivers’ run-ins

Toto Wolff has dismissed any link between his recent absence from the Mercedes team and the successive flash points endured by its drivers in Japan and in Qatar.

Wolff took a two-race absence of leave from his duties as team principal to undergo knee surgery and a recovery period.

During that time, the intra-team rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell ramped up a notch, with the pair nearly colliding during a tight wheel-to-wheel battle at Suzuka and then properly coming together at the first corner at Lusail.

While absent from his command post inside the Mercedes garage, Wolff watched events from his home in Monte Carlo thanks to a remote set-up that kept him in the loop, but also allowed him to take part in his team’s usual debriefs and technical meetings.

• Read also: Mercedes is 'a step closer' to the top, says Hamilton

Asked in Austin if his absence on site had influenced Hamilton and Russell’s behaviour, Wolff said: “I don't think so. We've laughed about that, too, in the team. But I don't think it has an effect.

“I think we are racing more in the front now, and I think we have a sniff on how it is looking like to have no car in front of you, with the McLarens and with Max [Verstappen] there.

“So, yeah, in any case, we'll never find out. I'm back.”

Wolff said that he had taken a relatively “relaxed stance” regarding the incidents but made clear that they had not gone unaddressed by the team.

“There were some, let's say, unpleasant situations that we have talked about, and lots of points that we left on the table – but there is nobody more aware than the drivers,” he added.

“Sometimes you need these moments to recalibrate and recondition and avoid similar situations in the future.

“But they're racing drivers; they compete hard. Your first competitor is your team-mate, and therefore, I see it with a relative relaxed stance. And I'm back.”

Although he didn’t miss an inch of the action while watching from afar, Wolff made sure not to get too involved in the team’s decisions or speak over those to whom he had delegated part of his responsibilities.

“I was completely plugged in,” he said. “I have a centre console set up at home, so I was part of every briefing, debriefing, and the conversations during the race.

“But obviously you've got to let the guys here fly the airplane. When you're remote, I always take myself back a little bit because you're distant.

“You don't look into the faces. You don't see what's going on emotionally with the people around you and you feel in a certain way detached. So, it's not something that I enjoy. But it was a necessity.”

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter