"Lewis has analysed what went wrong over the winter, came back as a completely different person and we haven't seen any weakness."
Tuesday 17 October 2017 17:09, UK
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says he has seen a "completely different" Lewis Hamilton in 2017 and believes the runaway championship leader hasn't shown any weaknesses this season.
After missing out on the title to Nico Rosberg in a tumultuous 2016 campaign, Hamilton has dominated new team-mate Valtteri Bottas this year and recently overhauled Sebastian Vettel's title advantage with four wins from the last five races.
That has allowed Hamilton to build up a 59-point buffer over Vettel, who has been strewn by reliability failures since the summer break, and he can even claim a fourth world championship at the United States GP on October 22.
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And Wolff has praised the Hamilton of 2017, insisting the 32-year-old is improving with age.
"It's almost inspiring the way the drivers develop and look at their weaknesses and try to improve them, out of the car and within the car," the Mercedes team principal told Sky F1.
"Lewis has analysed what went wrong over the winter, came back as a completely different person and since then we haven't had a moment where we saw any weakness."
Hamilton's most recent triumph was at the Japanese GP, where he made the most of Vettel's engine failure and early retirement to take maximum points after holding off Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the closing stages.
But despite holding a mammoth championship lead with just four rounds to go, the Briton still denied that he had one hand on the title, and Wolff agreed with his driver.
"If four races ago I told you that Sebastian was going to DNF two times and not score well, we would have said that's almost impossible," he added.
"This is motor racing. you have a DNF or two and suddenly the whole thing swings around."
Rosberg on Hamilton and the title race
Rosberg made his Sky F1 punditry debut in Suzuka, and knows Hamilton better than most after partnering and battling him for four years at Mercedes before retiring after his title win last season.
And the German had a unique insight into Hamilton's strengths and weaknesses.
"I would say pure speed, Lewis still has a little bit of an edge over Sebastian," Rosberg said. "The speed he's got is pretty phenomenal. Then a little bit of the weakness is some ups and downs, not quite the 100 per cent consistency.
"He's still had a couple of ups and downs this year. Not lately - lately he has had an unbelievable run. Let's see how he finishes the season but he's definitely going very strong and has the momentum."
