Wolff "never stopped believing" in Hamilton title charge

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has insisted he "never stopped believing" a title charge for Lewis Hamilton was realistic despite hope seeming to slip away at one stage in Brazil.

Any thoughts of an eighth F1 title appeared slim after the Briton was thrown out of qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix for a DRS infringement.

But Hamilton first made up 15 places in the sprint, a further nine to take victory, and followed that with a dominant lights-to-flag triumph in Qatar to close the gap to Red Bull title rival Max Verstappen to eight points.

Wolff remarked post-race a "lion had been awakened" inside Hamilton given the tumultuous weekend at Interlagos but has stated he had never lost hope of a record-breaking title win.

“I never stopped believing that this was on because we had such a strong Turkey but then obviously we fell back below our expectations in Austin and Mexico," remarked Wolff. "But no one in the team refuses to give up.

“I am grateful how the championship has swung. If you had told me at the beginning of the year that we would be right in the fight in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, I would have taken it.

“I hope it is going to go all the way to the end and whoever will win, merits the win.”

Verstappen can win the championship at the next race in Saudi Arabia but requires Hamilton misfortune to do so.

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