Mercedes F1 boss Wolff absent for second race in a row

DOHA : Mercedes Formula One team boss Toto Wolff will be absent for the second race in a row in Qatar this weekend after knee surgery but Lewis Hamilton said the Austrian would still be heavily involved.

A team spokesman said Wolff, who also missed the Japanese Grand Prix, had been advised not to travel while he was recovering.

"Toto's in every meeting," seven-times world champion Hamilton told reporters at the Lusail circuit on Thursday.

"Even though he's not here in person...he's a part of every single meeting. He will dial in to the meeting tomorrow morning, he will be in the meeting in the afternoon, he's on the comms just like the guys back at the factory are for strategy.

"He's still fully 100 per cent fully part of it, he's just not physically there in the country. He speaks in all of those meetings just as he does when he's here."

Mercedes are second overall in a championship already won by Red Bull but only 20 points clear of Ferrari with six rounds remaining.

Hamilton said he was in regular contact with Wolff during the week even when there was no race.

"I'm always trying to learn from Toto as a businessman and he's always massively supportive," said the 38-year-old Briton.