Tensions rise at Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton questions updates, while Toto Wolff dismisses concerns, assuring continued development progress.
In Austin, Lewis Hamilton endured a disastrous weekend that ended in the Texan gravel.
But what exactly happened to cause such erratic behaviour from the W15? “Something was definitely wrong with the car, that’s for sure,” insisted Hamilton.
Are Mercedes F1’s numerous upgrades to blame? One might think so, especially as George Russell, driving the older-spec car without the updates, managed an impressive climb from the pit lane to finish 6th, ahead of Sergio Pérez.
“This incident in that corner came out of nowhere,” confirmed Toto Wolff regarding Hamilton’s early race off-track moment.
“He wasn’t even pushing. From where I sit, it’s 100% not Lewis’s fault, and that’s not to shield him. It’s clear. There was wind, a slipstream effect. How does all of that interact?”
Meanwhile, without the upgrades, George Russell produced a superb drive to 6th after starting from the pits.
So, should Mercedes consider abandoning the updates for the upcoming Grands Prix? Toto Wolff doesn’t think so – at least, not for now.
“I don’t think we have a fundamental problem with the updates, not really,” said the Austrian, seemingly contradicting Hamilton.
“It’s more about the interaction between aerodynamics and mechanical elements, so we’re going to continue with this evolution.”
“Not doing so wouldn’t make sense, as we’d leave a lot of potential on the table, but we also need to keep an open mind.”
“George ran with the July upgrades because we didn’t have the new floor, and it seemed quite competitive in the race.”
As all too often, the Mercedes F1 car has proven to be highly inconsistent, leaving Toto Wolff scratching his head.
“If you’re missing a few tenths in qualifying, it makes a huge difference because the car simply isn’t performing as well as it should be,” he continued.
“The real mystery is why, on Friday, we had a car that was by far the fastest before the situation with [Franco] Colapinto?”
“In the sprint qualifying, Lewis Hamilton was four-tenths ahead, and the final sector was just tricky, but without that, he would have been the fastest. Then on Saturday, everything changes.”
“In the Sprint race, we had a broken suspension. That’s an explanation. We fixed it for qualifying, but after that, nothing worked, and the performance disappeared.”
Only one new floor available for Mexico
George Russell’s crash in Q3 will have a direct consequence for the next Grand Prix: only one of the two cars will have the new floor. At the very least, this will allow further comparison between old and new parts.
“It’s clear we will be missing the floor, which needs to be sent back to the UK and repaired for Brazil,” confirmed Toto Wolff.
“So, we’ll use the spare specification. Lewis is supposed to have all the parts, but I’m not 100% sure he even wants to run with them. We’ll see how we want to approach this weekend,” he concluded.
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Hamilton’s Concerns Raised: Wolff Insists No ‘Fundamental Issue’ Hamilton’s Concerns Raised: Wolff Insists No ‘Fundamental Issue’
