Wolff: The more you win the more people cheer for the underdog

His rise from an enthusiastic investor in Williams to running the Mercedes motorsport empire has been meteoric.

A little over a decade ago Wolff was hardly known, today he is a household name having guided Lewis Hamilton to six of his seven F1 world titles, while the team he bosses has racked up seven consecutive F1 Constructors' World Titles.

It has been an unprecedented run in which a decade of F1 statistics has been mostly painted the silver (and black of late) of Mercedes, the team Wolff has led since the beginning of 2013.

But this season, as they seek a remarkable eighth title in a row, and Hamilton too, they are facing their mightiest battle for these highest of accolades. Red Bull and Honda have produced a championship challenger for Max Verstappen and the Dutchman is delivering.

In this rollercoaster of a season, with the pressure on like never before, it has not been a familiar cruise to the title; Mercedes and Lewis are not sure bets this time around, with Red Bull boss Christian Horner suggesting Wolff is starting to feel the heat.

Speaking in a lengthy interview with Sportsmail, Wolff played down the comments from his rival team boss: "What Christian says about me feeling pressure? No, not at all. I feel he is one of the protagonists in a pantomime, part of the F1 cast, and for me as a stakeholder, as a team owner, it's great that he creates these kinds of stories.

"But it's irrelevant. People have a microphone in front of them or a camera on them and they start to behave like little actors, like Hollywood. It's very good they fill the blanks and make it pantomime. That's good for the sport and good for Netflix because they want to portray the people, not just the stopwatch.

"People have realised they are being quoted if they say controversial things. It gives them media time, it gets their picture in the newspapers.

"In many ways, we are going back to our roots because what Bernie Ecclestone created back in the day was racing and soap[opera]. And when there was not enough racing he made soap, he was always good for a headline. So we're back there. But I don't get drawn into it. I find it amusing, but it doesn't touch me."

Interestingly, Wolff says he has felt far more pressure in his life than he feels now, revealing the torment of losing his father at a young age: "Look, I've had so many hard years in my life that this — fighting for an F1 championship — is not on the scale. The mental stress of this doesn't even move the needle for me.

"Compared to my childhood, my adolescence, the struggles I had to go through, this is just good fun because what happened in my early life has left permanent scars.

"It wasn't just losing my father. My father was very ill for 10 years with a brain tumour. From the first moment, I can remember he was ill until he passed away in my teenage years and we had, literally, no money. He couldn't work. It changed his personality.

"I can remember at 14 thinking I wanted to be responsible for myself, I didn't want to be dependent on anybody, I knew I couldn't rely on anybody. Everyone has his or her story. I'm not asking for sympathy. Everyone has struggles but compared to my job as team principal... I'm still haunted by this.

"I still wake up having dreamt I am alone. It's a dream I have had since I was a child. It can happen any time. It is not about pressure, not about the job. We discuss mental health these days and people see you are successful and think it must all be fine, but you want to say to them — me, too. You're not alone with that. The scar never goes.

"So that drives my ambition. I still draw on it all the time. In my experience, many successful people — in business, doctors, lawyers — many of them have faced humiliation, have faced trauma early in life," added Wolff, who at 49-years of age is reportedly half a billionaire.

The ace up has been Lewis Hamilton, as Wolff together with Niki Lauda convinced the McLaren driver to join the project which had yet to show its true potential.

Hamilton signed despite an outcry from most British pundits who questioned his decision to depart the great team, led by Ron Dennis, to the Mercedes operation which was the start-up of the time.

Wolff has only high-praise for Hamilton: "I think Lewis isn't regarded as well here as he should be, but for many reasons. He had a lot of success immediately with McLaren, and the story of his earlier life, the financial struggles, the racism he was exposed to, is not something that was ever in the public eye.

"People didn't see that. What they saw was a young man coming into F1 and being successful from the get-go. And because he is also an extravagant person that polarises further. People can't cope with it.

"Is there fundamental racism in the world, too? Perhaps there is. But I think more importantly all of us lose more than we win, every day, and it is very difficult then for people to cope with a person they think has it all, who wins all the time. The more you win the more people cheer for the underdog.

"Only when he retires, I think, will people comprehend the magnitude of his achievements. The people who say they could be world champions in Lewis' car — well, why aren't you in that car? Why did he switch from McLaren to Mercedes in 2013? It was a bold move. There are examples, even now, people who went for the money rather than the car.

"Fernando Alonso is, without doubt, one of the best F1 drivers to have raced. Ever. It is disappointing for the sport that he hasn't got more than two titles to his name. But it's about knowing that you're part of the solar system, you're not the sun.

"Some drivers are ill-advised, they get in the media spotlight and they start to believe they're the sun. And you're not. None of us are. We're all satellites, we're the planets that rotate," mused Wolff.

The Mercedes team boss expanded about what it takes to be a top gun on the F1 grid: "You couldn't be a Formula 1 driver now and be unintelligent. There are many examples where great talent failed because it lacked intelligence. Some that didn't even make it into F1.

"In my junior racing career, there were one or two that definitely had the skill but didn't comprehend the all-around environment. One works in go-karts now as a mechanic. He still loves his job, but I think he should have been Austria's greatest driver. There was an unbelievable guy who used to beat Lewis but got into drugs.

"Today, to make it as a F1 driver you can't leave any blanks. It is not just about driving fast. You've got to be a little bit of a daredevil, but courage isn't all. You need to be so much more complete, as driver, athlete and personality.

"You need to be intelligent to engage in all the discussions, you need to be socially intelligent to play the paddock, the opinion-makers, the decision-makers, to play that to your advantage.

"Even the toughest people, the ones who run the series, the team bosses, are still human. The best drivers know how to manoeuvre through the field, even from junior years. It's social intelligence. They never miss those opportunities. Only the drivers who are all-round capable will make it to the top.

"When you speak to Lewis or Max, when you speak to Sebastian Vettel, you would be surprised how switched on they are. Not Oxford University degrees but just smart. There is no chance to live the James Hunt life any more. People are flabbergasted by how intelligent Lewis is sometimes."

Clearly, Wolff respects his rivals, Verstappen in particular, who has grown with stature and now leads the F1 title race by 12 points with five races to go. All signs are that this one will go down to the wire, the first time in almost a decade Mercedes are not certain of either title at this point in the season.

Looking ahead to a decisive month and a bit, Wolff said: "If it was to come to the scenario of the last race in Abu Dhabi and they were to be racing each other for the title, whoever is in front is absolutely going to try to do the same as in the Senna-Prost years."

The stage is set for more bent metal between the Mercedes and Red Bull pair, who have already had major incidents at the British Grand Prix and at the Italian Grand Prix.

Wolff reflected: "What happened in Monza? Verstappen took Lewis out because he was about to overtake and he was quicker. And that is totally understandable. If you are racing for the championship and you see it fading away because the other guy is overtaking you, what tool have you got other than the one that makes sure he can't overtake? We've seen it with Schumacher and Villeneuve, we saw it with Senna and Prost twice.

"I would never give the instruction to crash into anyone else but if they go to that last race and whoever is in front wins the championship, they will be racing each other, hard. I don't think you can control it and I don't think you want to control it because they are the gladiators in their machines.

"That is what makes this sport so interesting because it is ingrained in our nature that we don't like confrontation and then one is intrigued to see how that relationship unfolds.

"If they crash are they going to confront each other? What are they going to say? Will they look in each others' eyes? We would not interfere. The relationship is sorted out between the individuals.

"I look back at Silverstone. Our perspective is of an over-aggressive Verstappen, who has been over-aggressive for a long time but has always got away with it, who then ended up in the wall. We think he should have left space.

"We saw him crash, which was hard, but he got out of the car and we heard on many occasions he was OK, that he was sent to hospital for precautionary checks but was all right —and that came from senior Red Bull personnel.

"Meanwhile, we finally won a race again, in Silverstone, with Lewis Hamilton, in front of a big British crowd, against the odds. So we were super-happy. We gained 25 points on our main rival. But from Red Bull's perspective, they think they were in the right, they see their driver go into the wall and hear him on the radio, suffering — which we didn't hear — with immense impact.

"You've lost 25 points, which is disastrous for your campaign and then your driver is in hospital not feeling great with a 50G impact and then you see Mercedes celebrating exuberantly. So you think that's not right. Could we have done it better? Muted celebrations? No. People always see things in black and white. I'm right, you're wrong. They don't get it.

"Then we go to Monza. So what's worse? A 50G impact, or having a car on your head? Look, both walked away unharmed. That was the consequence, so fine, we move on.

"Lewis never played the dying swan, nor did we ever say he was heavily injured. And that can happen when a 750kg race car ends up on your head, even for a short while. He had a stiff neck or a stiff body. But that's why they are well paid.

"One pantomime player at Red Bull felt he needed to comment and said Lewis was well enough to go to the Met Gala. But we didn't say he was gravely injured. It was just another headline created," explained Wolff.

Round 18 of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship takes place this weekend with the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday.