Mercedes boss Toto Wolff dedicated and paid tribute to triple world champion Niki Lauda after the team secured Constructors’ glory in Japan.
A win for Valtteri Bottas with Lewis Hamilton in third gave the Brackley-based team the points they need to take the record sixth straight teams’ championship, one more than Ferrari managed between 1999-2004.
Earlier this year, however, the dominance Mercedes enjoyed was tempered by the loss of Lauda in May after a year-long fight with illness.
“We want to dedicate this to Niki because he has been such an important part since the beginning of the journey,” Wolff told Sky Sports, as the Austrian had worked as non-executive chairman at the team since 2012.
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“His sheer presence was always so important, the mixture between support and pressure, he was always such a special person.
“I miss him every day. When we talk in our group of friends, it’s surreal that he’s not here. I ask myself what would he say, and what would he think. But it doesn’t compensate for the loss and that he’s simply not here any more.”
With Hamilton now over 100 points clear of Charles Leclerc in third, Suzuka also guaranteed Mercedes will win the Drivers’ Championship, with Lewis 64 points ahead of teammate Bottas with four races to go.
However, whereas all great periods of success eventually come to an end, Wolff is hoping the revival of Ferrari since Spa and the threat from Red Bull will keep Mercedes on their game.
“There is a saying, a good horse only jumps as high as it needs to jump, but that is not the case with us,” he said. “The regulations stay the same and therefore learning on this year’s car as is important as developing a new one.
That’s the balance you need to strike. We just aren’t quick enough on the single lap against the Ferrari at the moment and that’s what we need to look at. We struggle to really cope with the non-performance relative to Ferrari at the moment.”