Wolff protects Hamilton: "It's complete nonsense"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Toto Wolff is protecting his driver Lewis Hamilton after all the criticism the Briton has received in recent weeks. According to the team boss, there is a logical reason why George Russell sometimes performs better than the seven times world champion. In addition, Hamilton has had bad luck more often than not.
Lewis Hamilton has had a frustrating start to the season after losing the world title in 2021. The Briton wanted to come back strong this year, but unfortunately Mercedes have not yet been able to build a car that can compete for the title.
Hamilton is currently nineteen points behind teammate Russell in the driver's championship. The seven times world champion has been criticised because Russell has performed better in recent weekends.
Wolff: "It's complete nonsense"
Wolff apologised to Hamilton over the on-board radio after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. At Square Mile, the Mercedes team boss explains why he felt a public apology was necessary.
"I need to protect him, because people have started to hit out at him, which is not right. It's complete nonsense: he's the greatest driver of all-time. The car is just sub par." After three seasons at Williams, Russell is used to a car with problems, while Hamilton has been driving a strong Mercedes for eight years in a row.
"George has sometimes struggled a bit less because he's maybe used to driving difficult cars at the back of the grid, but Lewis was unlucky on many occasions. He could have scored another two podiums and then the pendulum would have swung. So, it [the apology] is to make sure that everybody comprehends that the car is not performing, and not that the driver is at fault," Wolff ends.