Wolff makes Hamilton F1 title prediction - if one condition met by Mercedes

Since controversially missing out on the 2021 world title to Max Verstappen, Hamilton has been unable to challenge for the world championship and been forced to watch the Red Bull driver dominate on his way to claiming a further two crowns.

Amid an unprecedented two-year period of competitive struggles for Mercedes, the seven-time world champion has not won a race for two seasons, a drought stretching back to the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - 46 races ago. 

Hamilton did score his first pole position in two years at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix and finished third in the championship behind the Red Bull pair, though he ended the campaign no closer to ending his winless streak. 

Wolff has “no doubt” the 38-year-old Briton remains at the peak of his powers and just needs a car capable of challenging for the championship in order to deliver a record eighth world title. 

"From Lewis's perspective, he had a bad weekend," Wolff said of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where Hamilton finished ninth. 

"That doesn't do anything about him being the greatest driver in the world, and if we are able to give him a car, then he will be fighting for a World Championship. I have no doubt.”

Mercedes are set to fundamentally change their car design for the 2024 season after enduring a frustrating campaign that saw the German manufacturer go without a grand prix victory for the first time since 2011. 

"It's clear that when you have a Formula 1 car like we have now, you are never at ease with it," Wolff added. 

"You have good weekends and bad weekends but at the end every time when we have seen that Lewis has somebody in his target in front of him and it was about winning the race then the real Lewis comes alive.

"We just need to give him a car, that is the first thing.” 

In a social media post following the Abu Dhabi finale, Hamilton admitted that 2023 was “ultimately not the year we wanted”, though he vowed to bounce back next season. 

"As for the future, myself and the team know we'll be back on top, and we know there's a lot of work to be done to make that happen," he wrote on Instagram. 

"I promise you, getting there will be exhilarating, and seasons like this will make it all the more satisfying when we do. Til next year."