Sunday November 14th 2021
After Hamilton disqualification
Mercedes boss Wolff rages after a “joke” punishment
Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton is disqualified before the sprint race in Interlagos. In qualifying, the rear wing opens too far when using the DRS. For Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff, the penalty is a “joke” and announces consequences for the next few weeks.
Mercedes motorsport director Toto Wolff was completely surprised by the relocation of his star driver Lewis Hamilton to the end of the starting grid for the Formula 1 sprint in Sao Paulo. Until Saturday afternoon, Mercedes assumed that “everything was okay”, so at first he thought the verdict was a “joke” by team sports director Ron Meadows.
The race stewards rated the Hamilton’s using Mercedes in qualifying on Friday as not compliant with the rules; when using the Drag Reduction System (DRS), the adjustable rear wing opened too far. According to Wolff, it was a “trifle”. “We didn’t have an illegal wing, but simply damage that expressed itself in such a way that it was okay on the left, okay in the middle and maybe 0.2 millimeters missing on the right,” said the Austrian.
Consequences for Verstappen
Wolff threatened to take a closer look at the competition in the future and to give the World Automobile Federation FIA a tip more often: “In the coming weeks we will also ask a lot of questions if we see something from other teams. The modus operandi has changed a bit. ” It is taken for granted that Max Verstappen’s Red Bull team turned to the FIA about Hamilton’s rear wing.
Verstappen had also been punished by the stewards. But they left it with a fine of 50,000 euros. After qualifying, the Dutchman examined the rear wing of his Red Bull and touched it, which he then repeated on Hamilton’s Mercedes. With this, Verstappen violated the parc fermé rules.
Hamilton fought his way up 15 positions in just 24 laps in the sprint from 20th place. The World Cup runner-up will only start the 19th race of the season on Sunday from tenth place due to an engine penalty (6 p.m. CET / Sky and in the live ticker on ntv.de), while his big title rival starts from the front row from second place. Verstappen leads the World Cup with 21 points ahead of Hamilton. After the race in Sao Paulo there are three more races on the program.