Toto Wolff has apologised to Lewis Hamilton after the seven-time champion was stuck behind the midfield and unable to make up positions in Imola. There was hope Hamilton could make up positions in the wet weather at the start but he was unable to get a foothold into the race.
Speaking immediately after the chequered flag, Wolff said: “Hi Lewis, Sorry for what you have had to drive today. I know this is undrivable and not what we deserve to score as a result. This was a terrible race. We will come out of this.”
Hamilton replied: “Yeah, no worries, Toto. Just keep on working hard.”
The FIA’s decision to not allow DRS use until the halfway stage made it impossible for Hamilton to get close enough to pass the cars in front. When the DRS was activated, Hamilton was stuck behind a train of cars despite his attempts to pass Pierre Gasly and work his way through the pack.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Wolff added: “There is just no overtaking when you’re in a DRS train. We saw with George the way the car can drive when you’re in free air but we are not good enough for a world champion, not worthy for a world champion. We just need to fix the car.
“I had a little bit of an exchange and said sorry for the car he needs to drive at the moment and we will sort it out and he acknowledged, so it’s ok.”
His team-mate George Russell fared slightly better as he jumped from 11th to fifth in the opening stages. He benefited from Leclerc’s late crash to move up to fourth meaning the rookie has now scored four successive top-five finishes.
The result means Russell fell to fourth in the points standings but is now 21 points ahead of his experienced team-mate.
Former Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg said Wolff’s apology was done to support Hamilton through a difficult spell but warned the seven-time champion was still partly to blame for his poor result.
He told Sky Sports F1: “Toto was playing the mental game which is very smart on his behalf again, taking the blame themselves and really trying to support Lewis mentally. Lifting him up and saying that it wasn’t Lewis’ doing, it’s on us.
“It’s very smart because it’s not quite the truth and let’s not forget that Russell is in P4 with that same car, so Lewis definitely had a big role to play in that poor result this weekend.”
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