Toto Wolff says there is "no value" in the negative headlines about Lewis Hamilton which have dominated UK newspapers since the Japanese Grand Prix.
Hamilton found himself at odds with the media in Suzuka after he was criticised for playing on Snapchat during the televised press conference on Thursday, which led to him refusing to answer questions on Saturday in his print media session. After fluffing his start and having to settle for third -- losing further ground in the title fight to Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg -- Fleet Street was highly critical of the world champion, with one newspaper declaring he is in "meltdown".
Mercedes boss Wolff is unfazed by what has been written as he feels the coverage of Hamilton has always been fickle.
"First of all, it's clear that the media needs to produce headlines and it goes both directions -- you're being built up, then you being dropped," Wolff told Sky Sports during Mercedes' constructors' championship celebrations on Tuesday. "With Lewis he had a couple of tough weekends and yesterday's news has no value at all. If he recovers and has a good weekend in Austin he is the hero again. That's why I'm pretty relaxed about what's written in the newspapers.
"He's one of Britain's greatest heroes and he's won world championship titles in Formula One, this is not easy. Like many sports stars, or any stars in general, you write them up, you write them down."
Hamilton's woes in Japan left him 33 points behind Rosberg, meaning he can now win the remaining four races and not claim the title. Though Hamilton has had the lion's share of reliability troubles this year Wolff thinks his drivers are equally deserving of the championship.
When asked if Rosberg would make a worthy champion, he replied: "Absolutely, he's won nine grands prix this year and he's been closely matched with Lewis this year and always in the last couple of years. I remember 2014 when we let him down in Singapore and at the last race in Abu Dhabi, actually, this year Lewis is the more unlucky one.
"But both of them would deserve to win the world championship title and let's see how it's going to end."