“It was worth taking the risk,” Toto Wolff defends Mercedes ‘extremely peculiar’ Dutch GP strategy

“It was worth taking the risk,” Toto Wolff defends Mercedes ‘extremely peculiar’ Dutch GP strategy

Toto Wolff

Toto Wolff the Mercedes team Principal, after the Dutch Grand Prix, has defended the Silver Arrows strategy that cost Lewis Hamilton a potential first Grand Prix win of the 2022 season.

Lewis Hamilton during the closing stages of the race was in a good position as compared to Max Verstappen to take the win in Zandvoort, but everything went sideways when Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas stopped on the main straight of the track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvmkq7GX6aQ

What ensued was total chaos as many drivers including Max Verstappen dived into the pits whereas Hamilton was asked to continue on the same set of mediums that he was running on at that point in the race.

FS Video

Moreover, when the race ultimately got underway, the prolific Dutchman was immediately able to overtake the Brit with the help of a fresh set of soft tires.

After the race, a lot has been said about the Silver Arrows strategy, and Toto Wolff while dwelling over it said, “You can do 2 things: You can either pit Lewis, lose track position against Verstappen and leave George out – screwed. You can pit both – screwed. So it was worth taking the risk [with George]“

Also Read: “Max is starting to do that now too,” Stefano Domenicali sees flashes of Michael Schumacher’s brilliance in Max Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton was extremely angry with Mercedes’s decision during the safety car

Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton was leading the race when Valtteri’s car came to a halt, and just as the race was about to get going again, Hamilton on the team radio indicated that it was going to be difficult for him to keep Verstappen behind.

Moreover, disaster struck immediately for the 37-year-old and he went on an angry rant over the team radio blaming the strategy that was deployed for him.

If getting overtaken by Verstappen was not enough, Hamilton by the end of the race, also fell behind teammate Russell and Leclerc who were both on soft tires.

Mercedes W13
Mercedes W13

Lewis Hamilton has had a painful ending at the Dutch Grand Prix, and considering how angry he sounded on the team radio, there are going to be long talks into the night at Mercedes as to how the team screwed up Hamilton’s potential Grand Prix win.

Also Read: ‘This was the biggest f**k up’: Lewis Hamilton left frustrated after Mercedes’ strange strategy call

Also Read: “That’s clown shit,” Tifosi left furious after Carlos Sainz’s race is ruined after Ferrari pit stop blunder