Lewis Hamilton’s US Grand prix came to a premature end in Austin, but Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has maintained that the problem lied with the car and not with the superstar British driver
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has insisted that Lewis Hamilton was not responsible for his sudden crash at the United States Grand Prix on Sunday.
Wolff’s reassurance that the British legend was not at fault for the incident, which saw him spin off the track early on, will no doubt be a relief for Ferrari. Despite the Italian team securing the top two spots on the podium in Austin, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz taking one and two respectively, they will have had a worried eye fixed on the Hamilton drama.
The 39-year-old is joining Ferrari next year on a blockbuster three-year deal, and they may well have been concerned at Hamilton’s disastrous race. However, any fears they could be adding a potentially past-it Hamilton to their roster will have been alleviated by Wolff claiming post-race “Lewis Hamilton doesn’t lose a car on lap five like this”.
Hamilton’s elimination was one incident in a Grand Prix stacked with drama, in what proved to be a lively afternoon in Texas. Attempting to make up ground from 17th on the grid after his shock Q1 exit in qualifying on Saturday, Hamilton was up to 12th inside the first two laps.
However, things then took a turn for the worse as his Mercedes spun off the track as he leaned into Turn 19 for the second time. Hamilton then found himself beached in the gravel and his grand prix firmly over.
His Mercedes team-mate, George Russell, who went on to finish the race in sixth after staging a stunning recovery drive from the pit lane, had crashed at the same corner in qualifying on Saturday. Mercedes introduced their final upgrade of the season in Austin but suffered throughout the weekend, and speaking after the race, Wolff maintained that the spin was car related and not down to the seven-time champion’s handling.
“Where I sit at the moment it’s 100 per cent not Lewis’ fault and that’s not to say that I’m protecting him,” Wolff said. “It’s clear it was gusty, there was a slipstream, how does all of that interact?
“Lewis Hamilton doesn’t lose the car like this. He was not even pushing at that stage. We saw it with George on Saturday, perhaps that was maybe over-pushing it, but still abrupt losing it and putting it in the wall. Today, there was wind and a bit of dirty air from the car in front. We definitely have an issue. I don’t know if yesterday was the same.”
Despite Wolff absolving him, Hamilton himself apologised for the incident after the race. He told Sky Sports F1: “I mean that’s never happened before. A first for everything, I guess.
“I wasn’t even really pushing at that point. The car just started bouncing and Bono [race engineer Peter Bonnington] said I just got a 40kph tailwind but the left wheel was bouncing up in the air and then I lost the back end.
“We have three-wheeling sometimes, it’s been an issue for us. I’ve just never had that happen before. The same thing happened to George on this new update package that we worked so hard to bring.
“He’s fortunately doing a good job [in the race, where he finished sixth from the pit lane] but he’s got the old package on and it’ll be interesting to see if there’s learnings for it.
“It’s so upsetting, I’m so sorry to all the team back at the factory. I’ve never spun off in the race I don’t think before. It was not that I was not focused, I was really caught by surprise by this bouncing that I had and obviously I’m devastated.
“But onwards and upwards, what can I do? I’ll just try and prepare better for next week and hopefully have the car in a better place.”
While Hamilton’s incident was the talk of the Grand Prix, it did also feature a hefty bout of controversy between title contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. The young Brit said the decision to penalise him with a timed penalty for a passing move on Verstappen was a “momentum killer” for his championship hopes.
The penalty took Norris from from third to fourth place, one position behind Verstappen. The Red Bull star has now extended his lead at the top to 57 points with five races to go and 146 points still up for grabs.
Learn more
Catch all the action from Formula One on Sky Sports and get exclusive access to races, qualifying and much more for every Grand Prix. From Max Verstappen to Lewis Hamilton, you won’t miss a lap on Sky Sports.
