Wolff Reveals 'Extensive Damage' In Defense Of Hamilton's Performance At Red Bull Ring
F1
The team principal of Mercedes, Toto Wolff, discussed Lewis Hamilton's performance after the end of the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix.
The seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton finished the 11th round of the 2024 season in Austria in P4. This was his third-best result of the year up until that point.
However, the 39-year-old wouldn't be proud of the result, especially when his teammate, George Russell, won the race.
Hamilton had a great launch off the line and managed to overtake Carlos Sainz, who started ahead of him on the opening lap, and even got ahead of Russell after turn three on the the third lap.
At that point, it looked like the Briton could be aiming for the podium. However, Russell re-overtook him on the next straight, and because Hamilton overtook Sainz off-track, he also had to return his position to that of the Ferrari driver.
This cost the Mercedes driver a lot of time, then he got even more unlucky as he lost the rear of his car on the pit entry and crossed the line by a few centimeters, resulting in a five-second penalty. His team principal, Toto Wolff, said after the race:
"Yeah, it was one of his bad days. A pretty decent start and then Turn 1, lap one, giving the position back was a harsh thing. But it was pretty clear that we wouldn't be getting a 10-second penalty by not doing it."
"Then it started to spiral. He pushed very hard on the entry, you can see how much he pushed, lost the rear and then obviously the next penalty came about."
Furthermore, the Austrian team principal revealed that the seven-time World Champion's car had extensive damage, which cost him a couple of tenths every lap.
"On top of that, we had floor damage because of the kerb ride, which I guess most people have but his was extensive. It was two and a half tenths in parts that broke off on the kerb. So, no reason to be angry or upset about it."
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