Wolff "in daily dialogue" with Hamilton to ward off F1 quit fear

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed he is "in a daily dialogue" with Lewis Hamilton in a bid to help him rekindle his love of F1 and ward off the possibility of the seven-time champion not returning next season.

Wolff dropped a bombshell on Thursday, after Mercedes had announced it would not be appealing a stewards' ruling from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, that Hamilton was so disillusioned there was a real possibility he could call it a day.

Wolff said the decisions of Michael Masi over the closing laps, that led to Red Bull's Max Verstappen being crowned champion, had caused "pain and distress".

Assessing Hamilton's mood and the role Wolff would now play in ensuring Hamilton continued with the team next year, the Austrian said: "I'm in a daily dialogue with him but I also respect there is not a lot to talk about at the moment.

"Each of us copes in our own way with the feelings that we have at the moment.

"I just need to do the utmost I can to help him overcome these imminent feelings he has in order for him to return strong, with a love of the sport and trust in the decision making of the sport next year.

"And we wish very much this will be the case."

Wolff slates Masi for "freestyle reading of the rules"

Wolff has confirmed Hamilton was instrumental in the launch of the initial protest on Sunday, and in determining not to go ahead with the appeal.

In the end, it was decided little would be gained by dragging the matter through the International Court of Appeal, despite the strength of Mercedes' legal argument.

“Every step on the way it was joint decisions," said Wolff. "We decided together with Lewis to protest, to launch the appeal and to withdraw the appeal.

“As you can imagine, not only for him but also for us as a team, it was terrible to be confronted with a decision that decided the outcome of the world championship.

“But none of us, neither him nor us, want to win a world championship in the courtroom.

“But on the other side, we were deeply wronged on Sunday and it wasn’t just a case of a bad call, it was freestyle reading of the rules and it left Lewis like a sitting duck.

“It was tremendously hard for him and for us as a team to withdraw the appeal because we were wronged and we deeply believe that in Formula 1, the pinnacle of motor racing, one of the most important sports in the world, justice is being done.

“So my soul and heart cry that this should have been judged in the right way and the legal situation would have given us some right.

“But this is the difference between being right and obtaining justice.”

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