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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton received former team principal Toto Wolff's backing to turn things around despite a rocky start to his Ferrari stint. The former Mercedes driver left Mercedes after 11 years last season in pursuit of an 8th F1 championship. However, things have not exactly gone as planned for the Briton as he continued to struggle in the Ferrari.
After the initial joy in the Chinese GP Sprint, Hamilton and Ferrari are still seeking answers regarding their performances. However, Toto Wolff does not doubt Hamilton's quality and has backed him to succeed in F1's most iconic team.
Toto Wolff said, ahead of the Miami GP, via Motorsport Week:
"I'm also not surprised that it has those road bumps. He's been with us 12 years. The way of operating, he's being put in a Ferrari where his team-mate has been for a long, long time, and his team-mate clearly is one of the very good ones."
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The Mercedes chief also added that Hamilton was on a learning trajectory with Ferrari and would come good as time passes.
"I think we've seen that magic in the [Shanghai] sprint race. He was completely dominating that race. And it's not like you have the magic in one race and then suddenly you lose your magic in the following one."
He also added:
"If he aligns all of his performance contributors, if he feels being in the right space, the car to his light liking, he will be stellar. I have no doubt about that."
Hamilton continued to struggle in the Miami GP Spring Qualifying as he could only muster a P7 finish behind teammate Charles Leclerc. The former Mercedes man was more than half a second behind pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli's lap time.
Carlos Sainz echoes Toto Wolff's claims about Lewis Hamilton's troublesome Ferrari tenure
Toto Wolff is not the only person publicly backing Lewis Hamilton. Leclerc's former teammate, Carlos Sainz, has also shared his opinion about Hamilton.
Sainz admitted that he was not surprised by Hamilton's performances and said that he has been facing the same challenge at Williams. The Spaniard told the media:
“I think for me I expected it to myself and I expected it with him. Because in this sport there’s no secrets and when you are up against two teammates like we are, like Alex and Charles, that they know the team inside out, they are already performing at the maximum that their car can perform.”
The former Ferrari man also explained why it was unfair of everyone to expect Hamilton to perform at their teammates' level when they have been there for a considerable time.
Carlos Sainz is 15th in the world championship table with only five points to his name. Meanwhile, his teammate Alex Albon is 8th, just below Lewis Hamilton.
