“And when we had to make a compromise with a third stop because we could see
two wouldn’t work, he kept calm, kept going. It was the hallmark of a world
champion.”
Wolff, making his own debut with Mercedes in a role he only took on two months
ago, was relatively satisfied with how Mercedes fared.
It is likely, given the pace of the car, the team would have finished with
both Hamilton and team-mate Nico Rosberg in the points only for the latter
to retire with an electrical fault halfway through.
“Before the season started, if we’d been told we would finish the first race
with one car in fifth then we would have taken that,” said Wolff, ahead of
this weekend’s second round in Malaysia.
“But then expectations are high, and to have an electrical failure which led
to one of our cars stopping is unacceptable.
“With the other car, it ran well. We had an interesting strategy at the
beginning with the option (supersoft) tyre, but then on the medium compound
the pace dropped.
“It’s a bit of a shame, but the team are working flat out, and the car is a
solid one, which is good, so we just have to keep our heads down and working
hard.”
At this exceptionally early stage, Mercedes can certainly consider themselves
title contenders alongside Red Bull, Ferrari and Lotus, for whom Kimi
Raikkonen took the chequered flag at Melbourne’s Albert Park.
“We saw there are four teams who appear to have a good base,” Wolff said.
“The interesting point is the car which started seventh on the grid
(Raikkonen) won the race, whilst the car on pole (Sebastian Vettel) was
third.
“It says a lot about managing the tyres and the strategy, probably
compromising the result on a Saturday for the result on Sunday.
“That, I think, is the big picture.”
And Wolff is refusing to discount McLaren from the equation, despite their
poor start to the campaign.
He added: “McLaren wouldn’t be McLaren if they didn’t pick themselves up. I’ve
no doubts they will come back and learn lessons quickly.”