“He represents Mercedes,” Toto Wolff apologizes to Lewis Hamilton after a pain-filled race at Baku.
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Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton had to take a lot of physical pressure on himself during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, though F1 drivers are trained to be perfectly fit to experience 5G forces on their body during a race, the race at Baku made Mercedes face something no one was prepared for. Mercedes have been suffering from porpoising issues since the very start of this season, and this has led to the team losing a lot of essential points. As hard as it has been on the team’s progress, similar was it on Hamilton this Sunday.
Watch: How F1 teams may be using porpoising problems to close the gap
The Baku city street circuit is known for its iconic main straight, which is also one of the three DRS zones on the track. The highest ever speed ever in an F1 car was recorded in 2016 by Valtteri Bottas on this very straight, which was 378 kmph. This somewhat describes how fast the straight is. This year, however, this straight turned out to be a nightmare for most of the drivers due to the porpoising. Hamilton repeatedly complained about his back going through immense pain while on the straight. The bouncing suspension could be easily heard over the cameras, such was the intensity of the bouncing. Toto Wolff apologized to Hamilton post race for the “sh*tbox” he had to drive in the race. This became a weird gesture for the fans.
Lewis Hamilton could have had back injuries in the car.
Mercedes are known for their dominance in the sport in the hybrid era, however, this year does not seem to be going their way. Toto Wolff, who has a strong character and bold personality, has been almost never seen by fans talking in such a tone with Lewis, that he did on Sunday after the race. “He at least represents Mercedes and has a nice responsibility. That you then call your brand a shit box: I have a lot of experience working with world-class companies, but there I have never experienced a PR department that tolerates this kind of thing,” GPBlog quoted Wolff.
Although Russell and Hamilton managed to have a 3 – 4 finish in the race, Hamilton was seen in incredible pain after stopping his car in the paddock. He could barely get out of the car, and there were speculations, too, that Hamilton would have to miss the Canadian Grand Prix following the back pain. However, no official statement has been released by the team about him missing the race.
Also read: “It’s not going like he wants it to,” Jos Verstappen still not impressed by the Red Bull performance
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Gunaditya Tripathi
(274 Articles Published)