Toto Wolff says he was thrilled to see Lewis Hamilton recover from losin🙈g half of his left diffuser to fight back to ninth place during the Mexican Grand Prix while also sealing a historic fourth Formula 1 world title.

The Mercedes team prꦜincipal says he “hated every bit of the race” in Mexico after seeing Hamilton involved in the first-lap collision with Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel in which he sustained damage to his diffuser and a puncture. After limping back to the pits he re-joined the action in last place, and was lapped by Verstappen later on, he battled through the pack to finish ninth.

Despite the result being non-consequential to the F1 world title as Vettel needed to finish in the top two❀ but damage he sustained in the first lap clash saw him only finish fourth, Wolff was delighted to see Ham❀ilton seal the title with two races to spare in Mexico while battling back with a damaged car.

“Almost half of his left diffuser was ripped off. We lost a lot of performance and the car was badly damaged,” Wolff said. “I think the situation Lewis found himself in where he had the opportunity and Sebastian had a bit ꦡof a moment there and then crashed into Lewis and finished his race and finished Lewis’ race.”