Lewis Hamilton faces awkward Mercedes experience after Ferrari title defeat

Lewis Hamilton may find himself surrounded by some light Mercedes celebrations of its Constructors’ Championship win.

Hamilton regularly flies around the Formula 1 calendar on Toto Wolff’s private jet, and will do so again after the Brazilian Grand Prix, where Mercedes clinched the Constructors’ Championship and ended the mathematical chances of Hamilton’s Ferrari team.

Lewis Hamilton may need ‘one for the bed’

Mercedes arrived in Sao Paulo knowing that it needed just three points over Ferrari to secure its first Constructors’ crown since 2021. With Kimi Antonelli’s Drivers’ title already bagged, it was a case of mission accomplished.

Hamilton retains strong ties with the Mercedes team with which he experienced record-breaking F1 success. That ongoing relationship may make things slightly awkward for him on the journey home.

“In terms of the party, I don’t know yet. Now it’s another flight, another overnight flight,” said Wolff on Mercedes’ Constructors’ title party plans.

“George [Russell] is going to be on that overnight flight, so maybe we’ll have a drink, a constructor’s drink.

“We’re going to take Lewis also, so we’ll see, maybe he needs one for the bed!

“And then we figure out what we do in party terms in coming back to the UK.”

Wolff was informed that Russell had credited stability in the team as these winning ways return. The Austrian picked a different buzz word.

“Stability is certainly a factor, but we have also many people that have joined us recently.

“I think what I would like to choose as a word is safety. We are not a hire-and-fire organisation.

“We provide a culture and an environment where you can thrive, where you’re allowed to make mistakes, where you can speak up, and over the long term, I believe if you want to be successful, not over a period of a few years, but over many decades, this is what you need to be able to kind of ingrain in the team.

“We’re trying that. It’s not something you put on a PowerPoint. You have to lift your standards day in and day out, and these are the standards we’re setting ourselves. Sometimes we fail, but long term, we look at the long-term vision. For me, soon is in 10 years, and I need to set the team up for soon.”

Mercedes has weathered the storm of its ground effect era struggles to recapture title-winning form in this new F1 landscape.

Wolff was quizzed on whether he thought the Silver Arrows were capable of getting back to this point so quickly.

“The thing is, when you’re in these difficult moments, like we all are sometimes in our lives, it’s not that easy to keep going.

“Because looking back in retrospect, you’re saying, ‘Well, yeah, we needed these tough moments in order to grow as people or to grow as an organisation,’ but when you win. When you’re down, that is quite difficult to feel.

“So looking back, I think those last four years were very difficult between getting it wrong and then understanding why it was wrong, and then realising no, we didn’t understand, and that was a bit back and forth.

“But we will be looking back in 10 or 20 years, and when you look at the statistics, it wasn’t that we were complete losers over those four years because we finished second, third, third, fourth. I think that was maybe what the results were. We won races, won many races, so it wasn’t that bad at all when you look at the sheer numbers.

“But it felt not good, and the resilience of the team, the people that held together in those tough times, is a factor.

“It feels really good sealing those two titles. Not many sports teams have done that after a consecutive run of championships, then a difficult spell, and then coming back. So I’m really proud that we are part of this very small group of teams that have done that in all sports.”

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But Mercedes will not be resting on its laurels. After a dominant start to F1 2026, the team has won just one of the last four grands prix.

As such, 2027, and the defence of the titles, is starting early for Wolff.

“Look at the last few races. We haven’t won, and today at the beginning of the race, Kimi was just storming away. It looked like this could be ours, but the competition has been getting tougher.

“Between Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull, and ourselves, is four teams that can win races and will be challenging for a world championship. I have no doubt that it’s going to be very difficult for us next year.

“So for me, the 2027 season has started now. It is about learning in the three last races. What is it we can optimise? What didn’t we spot when we put the upgrade on the car? What is it we can learn from today? And attack these last three races full blast, whilst also making sure that we have the learning for next year’s power unit and next year’s car.”

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