Mercedes boss Toto Wolff feels Lewis Hamilton losing to Nico Rosberg in 2016 only “annoyed” him instead of triggering any improvements.
Rosberg is the only driver to have beaten Hamilton to a championship since Mercedes became Formula 1’s dominant force back in 2014, doing so at the end of an increasingly tense rivalry between the pair.
Just a few days after becoming champion in a contentious finale in Abu Dhabi however, the German shocked F1 by retiring, with Valtteri Bottas confirmed as his successor.
And since then Hamilton has been superior, seeing off fledgeling challenges by Sebastian Vettel in 2017 and 2018 before comprehensively beating Bottas the past two years to match Michael Schumacher as a seven-time world champion.
When it comes to why the 35-year-old has been in a class of his own, some have pointed to the effect of losing to Rosberg, and an increased effort to build a closer relationship with Mercedes.
But Wolff denied that.
“I don’t think that played any role,” he said prior to Hamilton securing the 2020 F1 title in Istanbul.
“I think that annoyed him back at the time and he just moved on. I don’t think there was a particular thing to learn in that year. Nico was strong, Lewis had some DNFs leading races and at the end, it is what it is.”
Instead, offering his own explanation, the Austrian believes Hamilton’s focus on extracting every bit of performance from himself has been more important
“What I see or what I realised over the last years is his permanent self-analysis, how to get better, he’s become really good in identifying points of weaknesses and then tackling them,” Wolff said.
“And he has progressed over the years as a racing driver in the car and as a personality outside of the car.
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“That is something that you see very rarely with people that are critical enough whilst not beating themselves up in order to progress.
“Many others in Formula 1, or outside of Formula 1, you’re pretty stubborn, you’re not really good at identifying your own shortcomings and therefore you stagnate in your development.
“It’s a thinking pattern that with him simply doesn’t exist is that is the constant seek for perfection.”