Wolff insists 'everything is easier' for Verstappen than F1 title fight with Hamilton

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes ‘everything is easier’ for Max Verstappen in Formula 1 in 2022.

The Dutchman secured his maiden world championship last December after coming out on top against Lewis Hamilton in the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with the pair having engaged in one of the most intense title fights in the sport’s seven-decade history.

In 2022, though, Hamilton is unable to compete against Verstappen, with Mercedes toiling in the midfield as their W13 car is way off the pace of frontrunners Red Bull and Ferrari.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton sits sixth in the standings after the opening five rounds of the campaign, 68 points behind early championship Charles Leclerc, who has won two races. Verstappen has won the other three, but is behind by 19 points due to Red Bull’s reliability problems, which have seen him retire from two likely second-place finishes in Bahrain and Australia.

Formula 1 underwent its biggest regulation change in a generation over the winter break, with a return to the ground effect aerodynamics design concepts last seen in the 1980s forcing every team to build their new machinery from scratch and shaking up the grid order. For Wolff, Red Bull have nailed the transition to such an extent that their RB18 car is significantly better than the previous model which led Verstappen to the championship, in stark contrast to Mercedes’ backwards step.

‘Last year, Max drove a worse car and won the title,’ Wolff said. ‘Now he has the fastest car, everything is easier for him, the pendulum is swinging in his favour.’

Despite Mercedes’ struggles, which have seen drivers Hamilton and George Russell manage a single podium each in the opening five races of the season, Wolff insists