Two years on from their epic battle, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen look set to lock horns at this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Image: f1
Hamilton demoted to 8th for exceeding track limits
Hamilton’s complains prompted Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff to jump in with the message: “The car is bad, we know. Please drive it.”
Two years on from their epic battle, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen look set to lock horns at this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Image: f1
The Austrian Grand Prix was a race to forget not only for Lewis Hamilton, but for the Mercedes team after both cars failed to finish in the top 6 for the first time this season.
Hamilton, who had a bad Sprint Race on Satruday, was hoping for a better race on Sunday having qualified 5th.
The seven time Formula One champion made a good start after overtaking Lando Norris but did not have the pace to keep up with the two Ferrarris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. After making an early stop thanks to a Virtual Safety Car, Hamilton failed to pass Sergio Perez despite being on fresher tyres.
Another bad race for Hamilton and Mercedes
His lack of pace, saw both Sainz and Norris pass with ease leaving him to make several complaints over the radio about other drivers exceeding track limits – and how difficult it was to keep his own car within the white lines.
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This prompting Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff to jump in with the message: “The car is bad, we know. Please drive it.”
Wolff has offered some more background on the direct radio message he sent to Lewis Hamilton.
“There were a lot of discussions about track limits and whether they were enforced or not,” Wolff said of the matter post-race. “I felt that I wanted to just make sure that we were doing the best out of the package that didn’t perform and just try to give it the best shot that have,” Wolff said after the race.
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The day went from bad to worse for Hamilton after the FIA changed the race results hours after the conclusion of the Austrian GP. The British driver finished 7th after serving a five second penalty for exceeding track limits, however several hours after, the FIA handed out 12 penalties to eight drivers following a review into additional track limit offences after Aston Martin launched a protest.
That led to a revised final race classification which saw Hamilton get a 15 second penalty thus demoting him to 8th.
