Wolff fine to have two alpha F1 drivers at Mercedes

Toto Wolff says he is fine to have two alpha F1 drivers at Mercedes where he counts the line-up of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas well enough.

Having started off with Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, Mercedes moved onto the biggest rivalry seen in the current era of F1, between the latter and Hamilton. Their long-term friendship fell apart as the seasons progressed, creating the dramas of old.

It put Rosberg into a situation where after winning the 2016 F1 title, the German bid goodbye, not only annoying Hamilton but also Mercedes. It, sort of, was a blessing in disguise for the team, with the arrival of Bottas – which calmed things down.

Ever since 2017, Mercedes has been able to move away from the intense fight between teammates, which always becomes hard to handle as seen in 2016 already. Despite the fight between the teammates for the titles, the relationship seems intact.

Whether it is due to lack of consistency from Bottas and eventual growth from Hamilton, it is hard to tell. The Finn shows good pace but the Brit finds ways still to remain on top, as he remains unbeatable since 2017 until now to equal Schumacher’s F1 record.

In the past, Wolff has admitted that the situation between Hamilton and Rosberg was tough to handle, but interestingly, he feels that the current pairing is such, where they can afford to have two alpha F1 drivers in one team, who can keep Mercedes at the front.

“I think if you have a dynamic between two drivers that is where the talking happens on track, I think you can have two alpha males in the team,” Wolff said to media including Racefans.net, F1 site and more. “And Valtteri has shown some really good performances this year but then dropped away towards the end.

“I like Valtteri and Lewis. The combination works well. When Lewis has a bad day, then Valtteri pulls it off, then the other way around: Valtteri had a really bad day [in races like Turkey] and then Lewis wins the race. I think as a combination, it really works well,” summed up Wolff.

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