Wolff Thought Hamiltons Qualifying Disqualification Was A Joke At First

Toto Wolff would be hard-pressed to find a punchline to this joke. The Mercedes superabound was left thoroughly unimpressed without Lewis Hamilton was ruled from Friday’s qualifying considering his rear wing failed the 85mm gauge test by only 0.2mm. 

Frustrations were evident at the Silver Arrows, with Toto telling Lewis on the radio to “f**k them all”. This is unsurprising given that Hamilton’s when of the grid start could have had serious consequences in their wrestle with Red Bull. Lewis will start in 10th place for the race later today, pursuit his world-class performance in the Sprint. 

When asked well-nigh how the penalty had unfolded, Wolff said he and Hamilton were left in “disbelief” and thought Mercedes would be in the clear. The right side of the wing, which had been damaged during qualifying, apparently, gave them a performance disadvantage, and the stewards found there was no intent to unravel the Technical Regulations.

“I couldn’t believe [it]. I thought that Ron Meadows [Mercedes Sporting Director] was taking a joke when I saw the WhatsApp,” he added.

The incident seems to have left a stormy taste in Toto’s mouth, as he expected the team would have been unliable to transpiration the wing as their rivals have previously washed-up rather than it resulting in a penalty.

“There are procedures in Formula One and a protocol you have to follow. We failed successive subsequent tests by the tiniest of margins.

“In the past, that would have meant fix it. We’ve seen it with the Red Bull rear wing last weekend. We have had many bargeboards, things, failures that were stuff put when considering the FIA has our cut drawings. They had the wings. We wanted to leave the wing with them so they can cut it in 1000 pieces.”

Mercedes protract to hold off Red Bull by only two points at the top of the Constructors’ Championship thanks to Valtteri Bottas’ Sprint victory. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen’s second-place finish saw him proffer his championship lead over Hamilton to 21 points.

We’ll be on the whet of our seats at lights out in Interlagos.

Should Mercedes have been unliable to fix the rear wing rather than be disqualified? Let us know in the comments below.