Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton dwell on what transpired in F1 Qatar GP, as the former touches on theories, while George Russell adds on scene with Max Verstappen.
It was looking better for Mercedes in F1 Qatar GP until race day when it all went downhill. Russell started from pole after penalty to Verstappen but the Dutchman immediately attacked the Brit and got through into the lead. In fact, the Mercedes driver also lost out to Lando Norris for second.
He managed to stay on the tail of Norris for a while but dropped soon. The multiple safety car periods and double stop scene dropped him behind Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri in the order. He tried to hang on the tail of the Australian, but did not have enough legs to push through.
He had to be content with fourth which included a 5s time penalty for safety car infringement. While Verstappen blasted on him in the press conference, Russell couldn’t respond since his media duties were over before that. He based his comments on the happening on Saturday.
On the side of his teammate Hamilton, he suffered further in the grand prix. Despite a decent starting position, he dropped back a couple of places. The car was not responding to him and was underbalanced as he complained. His day got further hampered due to a puncture after running over debris.
He didn’t know it was debris which co-incided with degrading tyres. He wanted to shut shop at one moment but had to get through the 5s time penalty for false start. He eventually finished the grand prix outside the points, but just wanted to get through the final race as soon as possible.
Team boss Toto Wolff, meanwhile, noted on the dejection for both Russell and Hamilton, more so on the latter. He also cracked whip on conspiracy theorists on social media, who allege that Mercedes is favouring the former since the latter is going to leave the team.
Race, result –
Hamilton: “It could have been worse, but I finished, and it’s over. That was me at the start. And then the puncture was really unfortunate. And the pitlane, that was me as well. Not my best, but I’ll get back up tomorrow and give it another shot. With the underbalance, We didn’t get the wing setting right. It’s happened many times. Just basically not having enough front wing in the car, and the car just wouldn’t turn. So I was just understeering massively for a long period of time. And honestly, for me, it felt like that’s what led to the tyre failing. Maybe it was debris. I didn’t see any debris, to be honest, but it’s not ideal. It happened just as I got to the pitlane entry.”
Russell: “P4 was probably a flattering result considering how the race went. Funny how this sport changes overnight. Everything was great on Friday. Saturday was a great day. Then we had no pace today. At best, we were two or three tenths behind Max and Lando. Start was bad. Had a slow pit stop. Penalty. I don’t even know what for, to be honest. It’s strange.”
End on high –
Hamilton: “I don’t think we’re going to end up in a high. It will end and I think what’s important is how we turn up, we give it our best shot. I don’t anticipate a particularly much better weekend than we’ve had in the past weekends, but naturally I’ll try. Go in with low hopes and maybe come out with a better result – it doesn’t really make a big difference either way. These last races, for me, don’t have an impact on everything we’ve done together. It’s been a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I’m just grateful I’m still standing and I’m still okay. I’ve had great races in my life, and I’ve had bad races in my life. Not too many bad ones.”
Scene with Verstappen (before Verstappen’s respect comments) –
Russell: “To be honest I was expecting a crash, but ultimately we made it easy for him because both Lewis and I made a terrible start. It was a pretty simple overtake for him which was a bit frustrating for us. It’s strange how when things are working and the car’s quick, everything seems just to work so well. When the car’s off the pace a bit, everything just seems to go wrong and today was a great example of that. And no, there’s no concerns. We know Max is a fighter and is aggressive. I expect no difference. I really wanted to go out there and fight with him today like we could have done in the sprint. But yesterday in the sprint, he was probably two or three tenths behind us. Today, we were two or three tenths behind him. It just goes to show what a night can do in this sport. It’s always on a knife’s edge. It’s a shame we didn’t have the pace when it mattered.”
Giving up scene, what with Hamilton –
Wolff: “We have this amazing partnership that has gone on for 20 years. We’ve won eight Constructors’ Championships and six Drivers’ [titles] with him, and I don’t know how many races he won. 80-something. So that’s the overarching feeling and I think when I speak to Lewis, that’s something which we are holding dearly. Now, these last races, maybe in the whole season, in the last week, was clearly not what we expect. We have one more to go. We will continue to give it our upmost, and we will celebrate the partnership, the relationship that we had, and those few races will be forgotten quickly.
“As much as it hurts at the moment. The race was bad, and I think the car was super difficult for both of them to drive. It just didn’t turn, when the grip kicks in the understeer, there’s unbearable understeer. And both of them suffered from that. And then the false start and the pit lane speeding, and it came to a point where it almost didn’t make any sense to continue, but if you park the car, you’re carrying this five-second penalty into Abu Dhabi, and that’s why we had to take it.”
Conspiracy theories around Hamilton –
Wolff: “I’ve never read the comments. I just hear that nonsense appears and now we can talk at length about the toxic environment of social media that I’ve always said, you have yourself behind the screen, you open up an account and then you put these comments. I wonder who would even have the time to comment? We love our fans. They contribute to what we are and the other ones who believe that they need to create some crazy, made-up conspiracies it doesn’t even bother me. They’re just idiots that have no understanding, [have] probably never put their foot in a racing car, even a normal car. So my message to the ones that feel to give us the comments: ‘nobody’s reading what you write’.
“10 years ago, I was really upset about what somebody wrote. I was walking on the street with Susie and there was this rather not decent person that was coming towards us and she said, would you consider this person’s opinion? And I said, no, why would I? I said, well, that could be the person that has just written the comment. So you’re hiding behind your screen somewhere over the mountains and you feel you want to make a comment, wonderful. You’re writing it for yourself anyway and for the few other lunatics that want to engage with you.”
Here’s details on penalty to George Russell: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Qatar%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Infringement%20-%20Car%2063%20-%20Failing%20to%20maintain%20distance%20behind%20the%20Safety%20Car.pdf
Here’s George Russell losing his lead: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2024-qatar-grand-prix-verstappen-and-norris-jump-russell-on-the-race-start-as-two-cars-crash-out.1817255595215847572
Here’s Max Verstappen, Christian Horner on George Russell
Here’s FIA on their decisions
Here’s how F1 Qatar GP panned out
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact