Wolff annoyed after Mercedes fails FIA’s test

Toto Wolff was annoyed with Mercedes failing the FIA’s test, saying that he never expected them to rule against his team.

The rear wing on Lewis Hamilton’s car was taken for inspection after qualifying. It was revealed that it failed the directives set by 0.2 millimetres. This resulted in the FIA issuing a penalty, sending Hamilton to the back of the grid for the sprint.

The seven-time world champion romped up the field to P5 on Saturday, which means he will start the race on Sunday in 10th place. This is due to his engine penalty, which is a five-place drop in the position he finishes in after sprint qualifying.

Wolff was annoyed with Mercedes failing the FIA’s test, and said that the wing was damaged in qualifying and should not have been inspected.

“Discovering that we’ve marginally failed the test, we are speaking 0.2 of a millimetre, to not allowing this to be fixed like the normal protocol would be…there the bullet was out of the gun,” the Team Principal said, as quoted by The Straits Times.

“The wing was damaged. One side was OK, the middle was OK, the right side was not OK, and that means we actually had a performance disadvantage.

Checks showed the gap between the rear wing elements of Lewis Hamilton's car was too wide.
Hamilton (pictured) was disqualified from qualification. Source: EPA-EFE

“We thought that, in consideration of all these aspects, the FIA would say there was a damage and therefore we weren’t in breach of the regulations.”

You are having a laugh

Wolff revealed that when sporting director Ron Meadows told him the news, he thought he was joking.

“Strange things happen, but you have to take it on the chin,” he continued.

“And the last 60 minutes of motor racing from Valtteri (Bottas) and from Lewis brought all the enjoyment back with all the frustrations that happened before.”

Read more: Horner believes Wolff is the villain as war of words rages on – “If Toto wants to make a comment”

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