Wolff makes Hamilton’s position on spin clear as ‘fundamental’ problem is rejected

Toto Wolff has dismissed the idea that Mercedes has a “fundamental” problem with modernizing Formula One in the US, while defending Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton endured a terrible weekend in Austin, culminating with a spin on lap two after a strong start from 17th and finishing 12th as the field completed Turn 19.

In his first spin in a race since the 2019 German Grand Prix, he sent the W15 into the gravel, 24 hours after teammate George Russell crashed at the same corner, condemning him to a pit lane start as Mercedes did not have time to complete a set of fresh updates of the same specification, suitable for Russell.

Explaining Hamilton’s uncharacteristic spin, his first DNF from a spontaneous spin since the 2009 Italian Grand Prix, Wolff defended the seven-time world champion.

“In the sprint race our suspension broke, this is one of the explanations. We corrected it and the incident at this turn came out of nowhere,” he told media, including Racing News365.

“He didn’t push at all, so where I am at the moment is 100% not Lewis’s fault. That doesn’t mean I’m defending him, but it’s clear.”

“There was a gusty wind, there was a headwind, so how does all this interact?

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Wolf on Mercedes update

Mercedes brought a big package of updates to Austin, but as the weekend progressed and track temperatures rose, the car fell out of its main performance window, with Hamilton 19th fastest and Russell only sixth heading into the pit lane.

This meant the young Briton was forced to use the floor from the July upgrade, which he used to return to sixth place, beating Sergio Perez’s Red Bull in the process.

Reflecting on the renewal, Wolf insisted that it was not a major problem, but that the team needed to do a better job of unlocking its potential.

“I don’t think we have a fundamental problem with the upgrade, it’s more of an aero-mechanical interaction,” Wolff explained.

“We are going to continue to modernize, there is no point in abandoning it because we will have to leave a lot of lap time.

“But on the other hand you have to be very open-minded because George did the July upgrade because we didn’t have a (new) floor and it seemed really competitive in the race.

“However, missing a few tenths in qualifying makes a big difference because it’s not as good as it should be.

“So it’s more of a question of, ‘Why do we have a car on Friday that was fastest before (Franco) Colapinto (yellow flag in sprint qualifying) on ​​Saturday that has transformed?’