- 21 Mar 13, 23:10#350999Wolff impressed by cool Hamilton
Hamilton finished fifth in Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, two places behind where he started after proving to be the best of the rest in qualifying as Red Bull ominously locked out the front row.
It was naturally not the result Hamilton had been hoping for given his grid position, but there was still contentment overall in a job well done over the course of the weekend.
The result could have been better if the team had not been forced to switch to "plan B", as Hamilton was informed during the race, which meant a three-stop strategy rather than the initially scheduled two.
Despite that, Wolff was impressed with how Hamilton maintained his composure as he told Press Association Sport: "He is great.
"He is intelligent, he asks the right questions, and in the race he kept his head down.
"He had a very difficult race because there was no-one in front or behind him for long periods.
"And when we had to make a compromise with a third stop because we could see two wouldn't work, he kept calm, kept going. It was the hallmark of a world champion."
Wolff, making his own debut with Mercedes in a role he only took on two months ago, was relatively satisfied with how Mercedes fared.
It is likely, given the pace of the car, the team would have finished with both Hamilton and team-mate Nico Rosberg in the points only for the latter to retire with an electrical fault halfway through.
"Before the season started, if we'd been told we would finish the first race with one car in fifth then we would have taken that," said Wolff, ahead of this weekend's second round in Malaysia.
"But then expectations are high, and to have an electrical failure which led to one of our cars stopping is unacceptable.
"With the other car, it ran well. We had an interesting strategy at the beginning with the option (supersoft) tyre, but then on the medium compound the pace dropped.
"It's a bit of a shame, but the team are working flat out, and the car is a solid one, which is good, so we just have to keep our heads down and working hard."
At this exceptionally early stage, Mercedes can certainly consider themselves title contenders alongside Red Bull, Ferrari and Lotus, for whom Kimi Raikkonen took the chequered flag at Melbourne's Albert Park.
"We saw there are four teams who appear to have a good base," Wolff said.
"The interesting point is the car which started seventh on the grid (Raikkonen) won the race, whilst the car on pole (Sebastian Vettel) was third.
"It says a lot about managing the tyres and the strategy, probably compromising the result on a Saturday for the result on Sunday.
"That, I think, is the big picture."
Breaking News:Lewis Hamilton has officially overtaken The Fonz in race wins. With 88 races less. Lol(Without a specially built blown diffuser, illegal front wing, preferential treatment)
- By darwin dali