Nevermind the collision ... Hamilton is on cloud nine in Mexico
MEXICO CITY: Lewis Hamilton became Britain’s first four-times Formula One world champion at the Mexican Grand Prix yesterday despite a first corner collision with title rival Sebastian Vettel that dropped both to the back of the field.
In a race won by Red Bull’s Dutch 20-year-old Max Verstappen, the 32-year-old Mercedes driver fought back from last place to finish ninth, while Ferrari’s Vettel climbed from 19th to fourth.
Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas finished second with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen third.
Meanwhile, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff jokingly wished former Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone a happy 92nd birthday on Saturday – the Briton actually turned 87 – and marvelled at his continuing ability to kick up a controversy.
“He’s the only one who is able to sit on the other side of the world and throw a hand grenade and it actually lands in the paddock,” said Austrian Wolff. “And I like it.”
Ecclestone, who was ousted when the sport’s new owners Liberty Media took over in January and now has an emeritus chairman position, is not in Mexico for what promised to be a title-deciding race yesterday.
However, he has created waves from a distance with comments to Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper suggesting Ferrari had been favoured historically and that helping the Italian team was “the smartest thing to do”.
“The teams are important to F1, but Ferrari is more than that. So many things have been done over the years that have helped Ferrari to win,” said Ecclestone.
He also suggested that Mercedes had helped Ferrari become more competitive while also ensuring Red Bull did not have the most powerful engines.
Wolff laughed off that suggestion.
“These stories are fantastic and I’ve missed them a little bit,” he said.
“I’ve missed the hand grenades and the pop-up meetings and the crisis situation and the rule and divide.”
Red Bull principal Christian Horner said the comments were classic Ecclestone but it was also clear there was a “tight relationship” between Ferrari and Mercedes as demonstrated by their behaviour in meetings. “One won’t lift the hand up without the other one being in agreement these days,” said the Briton, whose team failed to secure an engine from either when going through a rocky patch with Renault in 2015. king.” – Reuters
For an updated report see tomorrow’s Cape Times