Weve taken many punches in the face this weekend says wolff as he brands verstappens lap 48 defence over the line

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff was left incensed by the decisions that he felt were “punches in the face” towards his team this weekend – and pulled no punches himself as he unpacked a race meeting that saw Lewis Hamilton go from last to first in Brazil.

Hamilton was disqualified from qualifying without an issue was found with his rear wing, but the Briton made it from last to fifth in the Sprint on Saturday. A five-place grid penalty, for taking a new engine, was on the cards for Sunday. But what followed in the Grand Prix was a sensational momentum from P10 to victory with Hamilton taking the lead from Max Verstappen on Lap 59.

Ten laps surpassing that, there was flipside contentious moment when Hamilton attempted to pass his rival virtually the outside of Turn 4, the pair of them running wide. Without reviewing it, the stewards decided not to investigate.

And that left Wolff making the pursuit conclusion from the Sao Paulo Grand Prix: “I think we’ve just had many, many punches in the squatter this weekend with decisions that could have swung either side versus us or for us… it’s just something that I’m just wrestling well-nigh and I will defend my team, my drivers to what comes. I’ve been unchangingly very diplomatic in how I discuss things, but affairs has ended today.

“I midpoint the whole weekend went versus us,” he explained. “We had a wrenched part on our rear wing which we couldn’t squint at, couldn’t analyse… and without [we were] ruled – very harsh. And without you see Red Bull repair three times on the rear wing whilst stuff in Parc Ferme, with no consequence. That’s one thing and obviously that really peaked when the visualization in the race, which was, I mean, really… strong defence from Max.

“Absolutely an inch over the limit, but he needed to defend, but Lewis just managed it plane increasingly brilliantly by lamister the contact and end the race that way. That was just over the line – should have been a five second penalty at least – and probably Max knew that. Just brushing it under the carpet is just the tip of the iceberg. I mean, it’s laughable,” said Wolff.

2021 São Paulo Grand Prix: Hamilton and Vertappen tangle on Lap 48

However, the Mercedes senior extended his sympathy towards the race stewards, subtracting that they “are only there to lose” in regards to making decisions that would goody one party and frustrate the other.

“Well I don’t want to requirement anything on the stewards; I think they have a difficult life anyway and they are only there to lose. Whatever decision, one team is going to be grumpy. In that respect, I don’t want to be in this chair, but in a unrepealable way when you’re taking punches all weekend and you have such a situation on top of everything, you’re just losing faith in a way,” he said.

The weekend, however, ways that Mercedes leave Brazil and throne to Qatar with an 11-point constructors’ championship wholesomeness while Hamilton is now 14 points overdue Verstappen in the drivers’ table. And Wolff said the off-track decisions took nothing yonder from what he tabbed one of Hamilton’s “best-ever performances”.

“Yes. I think you need to put the whole weekend together,” he said. “He was on [P1] on Friday then climbed when from P20 to P5 in a 24-lap race, and then today from P10 to P1, and overall, I think definitely rate that among the best-ever performances I have overly seen from him,” widow Wolff.