MERCEDES BOSS FUMES AFTER BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX FLASHPOINT GOES UNSANCTIONED
Wolff furious as the officials turn a blind eye to close call between Lewis and Max
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has slammed race officials as “laughable” for their decision not to penalise Max Verstappen after the Dutchman ran title rival Lewis Hamilton off the road in the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The incident came on lap 48 when Hamilton tried to go around the outside of Verstappen’s Red Bull at the fourth corner of the lap. Hamilton was alongside his rival but Verstappen ran wide on the exit, which forced the Mercedes man onto the run-off area.
Hamilton regained the circuit and eventually overtook Verstappen for good at the same corner before going on to win.
Wolff said the incident was a “really wrong defence from Max”. He added: “Lewis just managed it even more brilliantly by avoiding the contact and ending the race that way. But that was just over the line. It should have been a five-second penalty at least. Probably Max knew that. But just brushing it under the carpet it’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s laughable.
“If the rules say that’s on, that’s fine,” Wolff continued. “I am not discussing the principle of hard racing. Hard racing is super and should be on. But not when it has been clarified before that you can’t drive someone off the track.”
Verstappen defended the move and said that he was already suffering from a lack of grip when Hamilton attempted his first overtake.
Verstappen said: “We both of course tried to be ahead into the corner so I braked a bit later to try to keep the position and the tyres were already a bit worn so I was already on the edge of grip. I was already not fully on the apex so then it’s a safer way of just running a bit wide there. So in a way I was of course happy that the stewards decided that we could just keep on racing because I think the racing in general was really good.”