Martin Brundle has called Mercedes out for attitude issues after they appealed for leniency regarding Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification.
Hamilton took pole position during qualifying in Brazil. However, he was disqualified after it was revealed that his rear wing DRS opened up by 0.2 millimetres more than the permitted amount.
Mercedes took exception to this decision, and appealed against it. However, the FIA dismissed their pleas. Following the rejection, Mercedes Team Principal expressed his annoyance with the decision, and said that they could have repaired it.
Brundle called Mercedes out for their attitude issues, and said that their excuses were all ifs, buts and maybes.
“In Formula 1, you can’t have any grey areas or fudges on technical regulations, otherwise you get creep on standards and issues,” Brundle wrote in his column for Sky Sports, as quoted by Racingnews365.com.
“Aston Martin found this out the hard way when missing just a little sample fuel at the end of the Hungarian GP – they were simply eliminated from the results.
“And the excuse that any transgression didn’t affect on-track performance simply cuts no ice whatsoever under the regulations.
“Lewis comfortably took the top spot for the Sprint until he was disqualified for a rear wing measurement outside the rules.
“That wing remained confiscated for the rest of the weekend until the end of any appeal time allowance as secured evidence. So, it was difficult to know exactly why or how it came to transgress the template measurements.”
Blame games
Brundle also highlighted that Mercedes and rivals Red Bull accusing each other of anything and everything is testament to the pressure of the championship race.
“Red Bull are convinced Mercedes are up to something with their rear wing,” he continued.
“Mercedes are indignantly wholly denying this. The FIA must have inspected Lewis’ captive rear Merc wing to a high degree.
“It’s getting down to the championship wire now with it all to play for, and it’s becoming rather feisty and a little angry between the two teams and contending drivers on and off the track. And the FIA are referees in the middle catching the occasional punch,” he concluded.
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