SUZUKA, Japan -- Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff arrived at his post-race media session holding a red hat. He placed it on the table in front of him, glanced down at it and let a smile spread across his face. The same hat has been hanging in the entrance to the team's garage since the Monaco Grand Prix, hooked over the headphone radio-set still reserved for Niki Lauda.
Wolff didn't have to say a word, there was no doubt who Mercedes' sixth consecutive constructors' championship was dedicated to. This one was for Niki.
"It's very difficult because I miss him every day and I think about him every day and when we talk with our group of friends, with Birgit, his wife, or Susie [Wolff's wife], it's so surreal that he's not here because he was a larger than life person," Wolff told Sky Sports in the paddock moments earlier.