Toto Wolff has moved to smooth over comments he made suggesting Max Verstappen’s record run of world championship race wins was for Wikipedia.
At the Italian Grand Prix last time out, the Red Bull driver won his 10th successive race, a new record in the world championship’s seven-decade history.
However, rather than paying tribute to the Dutchman for the achievement, Wolff said “Those numbers are for Wikipedia, and nobody reads that anyway.”
Verstappen responded when asked about the comments in Singapore by suggesting Mercedes’ difficult weekend at Monza was a contributing factor, and that the Mercedes boss “sounds like an employee of our team”.
When afforded the opportunity to expand on his remarks, Wolff moved to clarify his meaning.
“Well, obviously when you look at the comment in the circumstance you can think: ‘Was it the most intelligent thing I could’ve said?’ Maybe not,” he admitted.
“It’s always been my mindset, it’s something I’ve taken from Niki [Lauda]; Niki gave his trophies away to get a free car wash.
“You won’t find a lot of memorabilia in my place either because those numbers never mattered for the two of us.
“Formula 1 is a meritocracy and I said it often during this year that only the best win world championships and you need to recognise what a great job is being done there.
“And at the end, they will take another big trophy and that is something that is the most valuable. The best person in the best car wins the world championship.”
Mercedes dominated Formula 1 from 2014 until 2020, winning every championship on offer during that period.
It also claimed the constructors’ title in 2021, the year in which Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to the drivers’ crown.
Red Bull last year secured its first constructors’ title since 2013, while Verstappen collected his second world championship trophy.
He’s on course to make that three this year, while Red Bull could mathematically add another title to its palmares this weekend in Singapore.
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