Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff believes Lewis Hamilton is performing better now than at any point during his time with the German manufacturer.
Last Sunday in Mexico, the Briton clinched his fifth world title and fourth since joining the Brackley-based squad back in 2013 with remarkable consistency and no errors heralded as one of the keys to overcoming Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari.
Though Hamilton is under contract until the end of 2020, Wolff sees no reason, based on the current situation, why the 33-year-old can’t carry on potentially for many more years yet.
“As long as we provide a car that is competitive to win championships and he continues to drive like he does, this can be a relationship that goes forever,” the Austrian declared, speaking to Formula1.com
“This is the best Lewis Hamilton I have seen in the last six years. He has driven better, he has been better out of the car. Very, very complete.”
Considering what he thought was the Lewis’ biggest attributes, Wolff continued: “It’s the ability of combining talent with hard work, intellect and emotional intelligence.
“All great champions have all four of them. If one is missing, you can still be a successful racing driver but you are never going to achieve this greatness.”
Finally, the Mercedes boss had an ominous warning for Hamilton’s rivals…
“There is more to come,” Wolff predicted. “The reason he has won the fifth championship is that he concentrates on the job in hand and does not look too far away, because before you win a seventh there is a sixth to win – and we haven’t scored a single point for that one.”
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One possibility that is continually brought up, however, is whether Hamilton wants the opportunity to do what every racing driver seemingly dreams of during their career, drive for Ferrari.
“It has been a long journey with them [Mercedes],” Hamilton said. “I have been in this team for six years now. From day one, the day that I decided to join this team, I truly believed that something great was possible. Look what we have achieved together.
“At the moment, it’s very very difficult to imagine, envisage myself anywhere else, this is my family, this is where I grew up, but I said the same thing when I was at McLaren,” he admitted.
“Right now I don’t feel like I need to go and be in another team to win a title in another team, but you can never say never.”