Wolff: Hamilton has been ‘exceptional’ since losing title

Toto Wolff has described Lewis Hamilton's approach with Mercedes since losing last year's drivers' championship as "exceptional."

Hamilton missed out on the championship at the final race of the season in 2016, winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but seeing teammate Nico Rosberg secure the title. The title decider saw Mercedes issue team orders to Hamilton – who was managing the pace to try and leave Rosberg under threat from the chasing pack – but the team later admitted it shouldn't have intervened in the battle.

Rosberg has since retired and been replaced by Valtteri Bottas, with Wolff praising Hamilton's response over the winter.

"Lewis has been with the team now four years and the longer you work with each other the better you get to know each other," Wolff said. "The way I have seen him in the last weeks is really in a great mood and great spirits.

"He has closed the chapter on last year, that's how it seems to me, and the work with the team has been exceptional. So we seem to be in a very good place there. Maybe also with the opportunity of having a new teammate, some of the dynamics change, so my impression is a positive one."

"There was a bit of a curveball Nico threw at us in December," he admitted. "We were all expecting to stop racing and go back to the factory and spend the week with a normal office job and then suddenly it was all back to competition almost.

"It was interesting to find out how the driver market looked because within 48 hours we pretty much understood where almost every driver stood. We started to analyze who would be the best fit for the organization and it of course comes down to speed, diligence, intelligence, development know-how but also personality, and with Valtteri coming into the team not only do I see an opportunity with the dynamics of the driver, I see it as a personality that can bring something to the team."