It was all smiles at Mercedes after Sunday’s United States Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton’s win and Valtteri Bottas in fifth would see the Brackley outfit secure a fourth consecutive Constructors’ Championship.
In doing so, Mercedes joined an elite club consisting of McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull as the only teams to manage a quartet of titles in succession, doing so with three races to spare.
Though 2017 has certainly been the hardest of the four, with new rules and the re-emergence of the Scuderia, and motorsport boss Toto Wolff admitted it the achievement was “unbelievable”.
“It’s the reward for so many people that have been hard working in all the tracks to try and identify silver bullets that made the difference,” he continued. “The fact is that we have a really great dynamic in the team. We enjoy doing what we do and pull it all together and bringing it all.”
In recent races, it has been the superiority of the Mercedes engine both in terms of performance and reliability which has made the German manufacturer’s win a little more comfortable that it appeared it would be, but the Austrian put that down to another strength his team has shown this season.
“We have a motto in the team which is that difficult days are the days that other teams regret because the painful experience makes you so much stronger,” Wolff said.
“If you keep calm and analyze what happened and you try to improve, it’s just adding to your knowledge and adding to your strengths. We’ve seen that happen all through the years, particularly this year we’ve had those painful experiences. It’s part of the development of the team.”
Now, attention will switch to Hamilton finishing the job and earning a fourth Drivers’ title, which is likely to be done this weekend in Mexico, but the Briton, who has enjoyed a much better relationship with Mercedes this season compared to a year ago, was delighted to have achieved another major goal.
“I want to say big congrats to everyone in the team and everyone back at the factory,” Hamilton stated. “There has been an incredible push for this kind of performance this year and we have really pulled together more than I have experienced and seen over the last five years to really get something quite special.
“Especially to go from one car [set of rules] to another, which has never been done, and I am proud to be a part of it.”
