Toto Wolff remains confident that Lewis Hamilton will win again with Mercedes before their partnership ends.
Hamilton is leaving for Ferrari at the end of this season, bringing to an end an 11-year spell driving for the team. But the final few years have not matched the rest of that trophy-laden spell and he remains without a single race win since 2021.
The Silver Arrows have tasted victory twice since then. George Russell beat his team-mate to the win in Brazil in 2022, and took advantage of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris taking each other out to win the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday.
He was in third place to benefit from that explosion in front of him. Hamilton was running sixth at the time and finished fourth, one place ahead of Verstappen but also one place off the podium.
Team principal Wolff is adamant, though, that there are positive signed for the 39-year-old and that there is one more victory left in him before he leaves for pastures new. The Austrian said of Hamilton: "He has had a bad spell and, as a racing driver, it can be mind-crushing if you feel that you are not able to deliver your best performances.
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"I saw him now. He needs to go through this. This is not a situation that he has suddenly unlearned driving - on the contrary, things have come together. He had a brilliant race in Barcelona. We've just got to go through this, and we are going to win a race with him this year."
Sunday's race was a frustrating one for Hamilton, even beyond the face he started it two places behind his team-mate on the grid. Wolff told reporters the seven-time F1 champion had picked up floor damage during the Grand Prix which hampered his ability to make progress.
He said: "Yeah, it was one of his bad days. A pretty decent start and then turn one, lap one, giving the position back was a harsh thing. But it was pretty clear that we would be getting a 10-second penalty by not doing it.
"Then it started to spiral. He pushed very hard on the entry, you can see how much he pushed, lost the rear and then obviously the next penalty came about. On top of that, we had floor damage because of the kerb ride, which I guess most people have but his was extensive. It was two and a half tenths in parts that broke off on the kerb."
And Hamilton said of his own day: "Pretty shocking, but I'm really happy for the team. Everyone in the factory has worked so hard to get a result like this so congratulations to the team and George, well deserved. Me, just been pretty s*** all weekend. It's not been for a lack of trying but just generally slow. Just not acceptable."
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