HAM’S FURY
Team blunder and car problems halt Hamilton’s desperate chase to finish
LEWIS HAMILTON was left fuming after a Mercedes team blunder wrecked his Austrian Grand Prix and hit the Brit’s world title hopes.
Hamilton was a huge favourite to extend his advantage over Sebastian Vettel when he took the lead from teammate Valtteri Bottas on the first lap.
But Bottas retired on lap 14 and the virtual safety car was deployed while his car was moved.
All Hamilton’s rivals pitted for fresh tyres but Mercedes kept Hamilton out on the track. When the world champion finally came in, he returned in fourth place.
Mercedes’ top strategist James Vowles came on the radio as the bearer of bad news, admitting his error as Hamilton struggled to comprehend what had happened.
“I’m fourth now,” he exclaimed. And later he added: “I’m not going to be able to pass anyone. We’ve thrown away the win.”
“I have thrown away the win today,” replied Vowles. “Passing is possible. I’m sorry.”
Hamilton retired on lap 64 with fuel pressure problems as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took his first win of the season.
Kimi Raikkonen was second with Ferrari teammate Vettel in third, giving the German a one-point lead in the championship. When asked if he could have overridden the call to stay out, Hamilton added: “You can decide to stay out but the guys on the pit wall, you have to put 100 per cent faith in.
“You can’t see much when you’re out on the track. All you can see is the guy in front and the guy behind. “We’ve got to understand how we went wrong at both ends.
“Ultimately, we have to take positives where we can. We were the quickest. We’ve got to keep working hard.”
Asked if he still had faith in his team, he replied: “Of course.
“It is what it is. All we can do is move forward.”
The result was hard on a Mercedes team which had dominated this race, won the last four at this track and saw Hamilton’s record run of 33 successive scoring finishes come to an end.
Principal Toto Wolff said: “It is a tremendously painful day, for me personally the most painful in the last six years.”
While it was gloom in the Mercedes garage, Verstappen was delighted. He said: “It was amazing to win at the Red Bull Ring with so many Dutch fans here.
“I needed to catch up with the points, and I hope we can continue like this.”