Lewis Hamilton has criticized Mercedes’ announcements during the Monaco Grand Prix: Toto Wolff admits a mistake by the team
Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff admits a mistake the team made regarding a radio message to Lewis Hamilton that potentially cost the seven-time world champion a position against Max Verstappen
Hamilton was right behind the world championship leader in the first half of the race and could potentially have overtaken him with an undercut after his pit stop on lap 52. However, Hamilton drove too slow an outlap and thus remained behind the Dutchman, who also turned off for the pit stop one lap later.
Hamilton then complained on the radio: “Why didn’t you tell me that the outlap was important?” Because then the Briton might have gained ground.
“That was primarily a miscommunication between us on the command post,” admitted Wolff after the race. Hamilton should have been told that the outlap was important and that an undercut would be attempted against Verstappen.
“But then there was a debate about whether the outlap on new tires would even be enough, so the message to him was at least confusing, if not wrong,” said the Austrian. “But the concern in the background was: what would happen later if we pushed the tires that hard on one lap?”
“But in summary, it was simply the wrong message to Lewis. That was the team’s mistake.” And in the end, Hamilton also finished behind Verstappen in seventh position
Hamilton wanted to start on mediums
If Hamilton has his way, that wasn’t the only bad decision Mercedes made on Sunday. He already disagreed with the tire choice at the start of the race. Hamilton had taken the hard tires at the start, but the red phase put him at a disadvantage.
While the front runners finished the rest of the race on hard tires because they initially had the mediums, Hamilton switched to the mediums during the stoppage and later came in for another pit stop. “Told you guys,” he radioed during the stoppage.
After the race, he explained why he wanted the mediums first: “I had a feeling that something was going to happen at the start of the race and normally that gives you a chance to switch to the hard and drive to the end,” said Hamilton.
Mercedes: Red flag destroyed our strategy
In retrospect, Mercedes would have preferred to have done it that way, but the racing team had not expected the red flag to come out. “Of course, it knocked everything together for us,” Wolff, who speaks of a “disaster scenario”, complains to Sky.
Both drivers were actually allowed to start on hard because they saw the possibility of finishing on the podium with both cars in the event of a red flag or a safety car after the pit stops of the top four.
“However, a red flag on the first lap would have been unfavorable. That’s exactly what happened to us at the start of the race,” says chief race engineer Andrew Shovlin.
At least after the red phase, the strategies of both drivers were split. While George Russell drove to the finish on the mediums and, according to Shovlin, had no trouble keeping Max Verstappen at bay on fresher tires, Hamilton was brought back into the pits – but without the push announcement on the outlap.
At least they were able to take home the point for the fastest race lap
What does that do to the driver relationship?
The question is, however, how the new wrong decisions will affect the relationship between the team and the outgoing driver. Wolff says: “We are trying to get the best out of our relationship and achieve the best results in the last season. And as always between drivers, there can sometimes be tension because everyone wants the best.”
Hamilton himself made some strange statements after qualifying on Saturday: “I don’t expect to beat George in qualifying again this year,” he said after the 1:7 in the team duel, pointing out the differences between the two cars.
Wolff also tries to find an answer to this: “Isn’t every driver skeptical at times?” he asks. “I believe that we as a team have shown, even in the most tense duels, that we always try to balance things out transparently and fairly. I don’t think we’ve tried to intervene in a race since Abu Dhabi 2016.”
“But I can understand that as a driver you want to get the best out of yourself and the team. And sometimes, when things go against you, you wonder. But as a team, we are 100 percent on a mission to give both drivers two great cars – the best possible and the best possible strategy and support. “