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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reckons Lewis Hamilton could become a ten-time world champion if he gets the right car.
Hamilton was on course to become an eight-time champion in the last race of the 2021 season in Abu Dhabi but fell short. However, in an interaction with the Italian edition of Motorsport.com, Wolff said that Hamilton should be proud of the seven titles he has already won and looks good for more.
"Of course, he would have been the only driver to hold this record, but I think he can be equally proud of having seven titles as Michael (Schumacher has)," said Wolff. "I think this achievement is also definitely historic and important. But the goal is to get back to the right performance soon, and if we get back to providing Lewis with a good car, why only think about eight world titles? Why not 10?"
Regarding the events in Abu Dhabi last year, the Mercedes boss has said that he has accepted Max Verstappen as the champion, but the sporting value 'kicked down' that day.
"I think about it every day," said Wolff. "But I accepted that Max won the championship, because he is a champion who deserves what he got. As it turned out, look, I think I have important values like fairness, and in particular sporting fairness, and that's what gave birth to my love of sport. Unfortunately, on that particular day, this value was kicked down."
Wolff did however praise Lewis Hamilton's ability to start afresh when the new season started and his ability to be the most positive person in the team. Wolff said:
"At the beginning, like for all of us, it was not easy to accept reality; it is certainly not a pleasant experience. But after the first few races, he got his very special spirit back; he was totally focused on getting this car into the top positions, and even when we went through very difficult days, he was always the most positive person in the team."
Lewis Hamilton is in good recent form
After an uncharacteristically stuttering start to his campaign, Lewis Hamilton has been on a six-race podium streak, which he accomplished at the Hungarian GP.
"I was struggling at the beginning of the race and wasn't sure whether I'd be able to catch up so I'm happy I was able to recover from P7," said Hamilton. "I had a good start, which was crucial and, bit by bit, I felt more comfortable with the balance of the car."
He added about the cooler temperature in qualifying helping the team.
"The cooler temperatures in qualifying and the race seemed to work well for us," said Hamilton. "We made a massive step from Friday and I'm very grateful for it. If the DRS had been working yesterday, we could have been in the run for the win."
He added:
"I want to acknowledge my team, who have continued to push and have never given up through this tough year that we've had so far. It's very special for us to have both cars on the podium today."
Lewis Hamilton's performances this season has been a breath of fresh air for the team struggling to come to terms with the new regulations.
