According to Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ rivals missed the chance to capitalise on the Silver Arrows’ slump in results after the 2019 summer break, which could have stopped them clinching both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

Speaking after the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – where Lewis Hamilton emerged victorious to continue Mercedes’ winning streak at Yas Marina, which stretches back to 2014 – Team Principal Wolff looked back on Mercedes’ sixth double championship-winning season, which saw them win the first eight races of 2019, before Ferrari briefly made a fight of it – only for Mercedes to recover again, winning five of the last six Grands Prix.

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“The overwhelming thing in the season was obviously Niki [Lauda] passing, and that was kind of a shadow on the season,” he said.

“But from a performance standpoint, I would put it into three parts. The first one, we really did well at the beginning, we were really competitive. Then after the summer, not. Then we kind of recovered and didn’t drop the ball, and our competition did, and this was what made us win the championship.”