F1: Mercedes admits ‘issues’ after Lewis Hamilton’s Texas trouble

Oct 20, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team driver Lewis Hamilton (44) of Team Great Britain walks through the track entrance before the 2024 Formula One US Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

A frustrated Toto Wolff admitted his Mercedes team are struggling with “issues” on Sunday after seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton crashed out on the fifth lap of the United States Grand Prix.

He referred to car problems and said Hamilton’s exit was “one hundred percent the car” as he was “not even pushing at that stage…and Lewis Hamilton doesn’t lose a car on lap five like this.”

Wolff also spoke out about the inconsistencies of stewards’ decisions that on Sunday included a five-second penalty for George Russell who finished a fine sixth after starting from the pit lane.

READ: F1: Leclerc wins US Grand Prix, Verstappen third

A race and a weekend to forget for Lewis 😖#F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/mOcygm2LZL

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 21, 2024

Clearly referring to a stewards’ decision to give McLaren’s Lando Norris a five-second penalty for gaining an advantage when he was forced off track as he passed Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Wolff was enigmatic.

“It’s inconsistent,” he said. “Yesterday, we’ve seen a few of those incidents which were exactly the same but weren’t penalized — racing for positions actually, real positions and receiving that penalty is just completely odd and bizarre.

“I think we know, but obviously you can’t say that on television…. some of that decision making at the end. Sometimes, there’s correlations between when there is decision-making that is a bit interesting.”