In Austin, Lewis Hamilton had a disastrous weekend which ended in the Texan gravel.
But what happened to explain such erratic behavior of the W15? Something was wrong with the car, that’s for sure, assured Lewis Hamilton…
Are the numerous developments of Mercedes F1 to blame? We could believe it since without any changes, with the old car, George Russell managed a good comeback, from the pits to 6th place (finishing ahead of Sergio Pérez).
“This incident on this corner came out of nowhere,” confirms Toto Wolff regarding Lewis Hamilton’s exit from the track at the start of the event.
“He wasn’t even pushing. From where I sit, it’s 100% not Lewis’ fault, and it’s not to protect him. It’s clear. There was wind, a suction effect. How does all this interact? »
Without the changes, George Russell managed a superb comeback to 6th place, as he started from the pits.
Would it not then be better to abandon the developments for the next Grands Prix? That’s not what Toto Wolff thinks… For the moment?
“I don’t think we have a fundamental problem with the developments, not really,” declared the Austrian, who thus seems to contradict Lewis Hamilton.
“It’s more about the interaction between the aerodynamics and the mechanical elements, and so we will continue with this evolution. »
“Not doing so would make no sense, as a lot of potential would be left on the table, but you also have to keep an open mind. »
“George rode the July upgrades because we didn’t have the new flat bottom, and it seemed quite competitive in the race. »
As too often, the Mercedes F1 has been a very inconsistent car and Toto Wolff is scratching his head…
“If you’re missing a few tenths in qualifying, it makes a huge difference because it’s just not as good as it should be,” he continued.
“The real mystery is why did we have a car that on Friday was by far the fastest before the situation with [Franco] Colapinto? »
“In sprint qualifying, Lewis Hamilton was four tenths ahead and the last sector was just a problem, but without that he would have been the fastest. And then on Saturday, everything changes. »
“In the Sprint race we had a broken suspension. It’s an explanation. We fixed that for qualifying, but then nothing worked and the performance disappeared. »
Only one new flat bottom available in Mexico
George Russell’s accident in Q3 will have a concrete consequence for the next Grand Prix: only one of the two cars will have the new flat bottom. This will at least allow comparisons between new and old parts to continue!
“Clearly we will be missing the flat bottom which needs to be sent back to the UK and repaired for Brazil” confirm Toto Wolff.
“So we’re going to use the alternate specification. Lewis, he should normally have all the parts, but I’m not 100% sure he wants to ride with it. So we’ll see how we want to approach this weekend.” he concludes.
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