Wolff hates strong second drivers and competition in the team - official

[White six]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/ ... n-mercedes

He's no Frank Williams

Suits him just fine to have a pussywagon trailing round half a lap behind hammy

Does beg the question, was Rosberg's retirement partially down to Wolff.

[PTRACER]

I thought Rosberg's retirement was down to himself. The amount of pressure he was under was huge. He did his job, he quit immediately. Surprised the hell out of everyone. I feel like he is a forgotten driver already though, no one seems to miss him or wonder what would have happened if he stayed in F1.

[White six]

Most likely yes, it was logical even if it was a surprise. Shame that Wolff was so spooked by a little bit of aggro.

[Vassago]

Yeah, Rosberg probably had enough of it mentally. Then again that 2016 season probably changed Wolff's mind and send him the Todt/Brawn path. When you enjoy such a dominance with car peformance, it's totally understandable.

[XcraigX]

I'll be the first to admit that Rosberg was a damn good driver. It's just that he was not as good as Lewis and used every trick in the book to beat him in 2016 (coupled with some bad luck on Lewis' part). As several of you have mentioned, this mental strain/stress is likely the main cause behind his retirement. But I am thinking that with Toto witnessing this effect on his driver he has changed his mind and from then on prefers a second driver that does not have quite enough to challenge the top driver. Hence Bottas. Was he hired knowing he would not be able to mount a serious challenge to Lewis? His record prior to Mercedes also confirms this.

[MiÑardi]

It's fine to have a weaker second driver when the car is dominant (albeit very dull for us), but I wonder if he will change his mind if Red Bull start putting pressure on them in the Constructors? Hopefully Perez can do a good job this year and take the fight to Bottas at least.

[White six]

I notice from the press conference that Lewis likes rivalries where he knows he's gonna win too