Hamilton on top, surrounded by controversies
budapest — Lewis Hamilton departed Budapest on Monday as the beaming new leader of this year’s world championship and at the centre of a trio of controversies in the wake of his record fifth victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The defending world champion was involved in a row over yellow flags with his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, accused of ‘backing him up’ in the race and also of showing a lack of respect to a back-marker who had blocked him.
But he showed no signs of serious concern other than a worry that the race stewards’ inconsistent interpretation of the flag rules was dangerous and required clarification.
Hamilton was accused of ‘backing up’ second-placed Rosberg during Sunday’s race — driving slower than he could to push his rival back within reach of third-placed Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo — but this was dismissed by Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff.
“I don’t think he was backing him up at all,” said Wolff. “I’m sure he didn’t want to back him up.
“The whole weekend we discussed with them the need to be very cautious on the tyres.
“When you hear constant messaging that ‘the tyres might not last’, you want to manage them.
“He (Hamilton) over-managed it probably. He had everything under control. He knew Nico was behind and didn’t realise the train was approaching fast.”
Hamilton said: “I was turning my engine up and down, managing it as much as I needed to... I wasn’t backing Nico up.
“He was quick enough to close the gap, if he really wanted to, and challenge. After the radio message, I was able to pick pace and really go for it.”—