Mercedes F1’s decision in Baku, penalizing Hamilton, hints at a strategic play for the season’s end.
Mercedes F1 Could Have Achieved an Excellent Team Result in Baku Had Lewis Hamilton Not Started from the Pits. However, Toto Wolff, the team director, explains that it was preferable to take this penalty in Baku, as it was not feasible in Singapore, and Austin could be a good playground for the W15.
“I think there are two different philosophies and we have discussed this at length,” Wolff stated. “The first is to bite the bullet here, because starting from seventh place, we do not know what would have happened, and then to do it in Austin.”
“But we think Austin is an opportunity and so that’s the decision we made. I don’t know if it’s a good or bad decision, but it was a close call.”
Wolff does not know what to expect for the end of this season, as Mercedes has varied greatly in performance in recent weeks. According to him, each team can have significant ups and downs from one race to another.
“I think we have always been fast at Barcelona, Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps. What’s next? Austin was a good circuit for us last year. Brazil was a good circuit for us. There are not many good ones left.”
“But it is very difficult to establish correlations, to predict, and to find out what really caused this change in performance. Because we don’t see them just from one season to the next. Look at McLaren, in Austria in 2023, they suddenly became so competitive even though they had not anticipated it themselves.”
“They were thinking of an improvement of two and a half tenths; it was a second, and they continued on their momentum. The car is at its best level, and they have made the right decisions since then, and today it is the fastest car.”
“And now, you have seen these performance variations in us before the break, in Ferrari now, you saw at the beginning of the year with Red Bull was in a different championship with Verstappen running away at the front. And the team collapsed. But never write them off, never write anyone off at the end of the season.”
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Baku Penalty May Boost Mercedes’ Late Season Baku Penalty May Boost Mercedes’ Late Season
