Toto Wolff has assured that there are zero tensions in the Mercedes garage, saying what happened at Istanbul is behind them.
Although the team took a dominant victory in Turkey, there was a clash between driver Lewis Hamilton and his race engineer over the strategy. The miscommunication meant Hamilton could only manage a P5, and he wasn’t pleased about it.
Many predicted that the air would be cold in the Mercedes office after the race, but Hamilton and the team sorted their differences out the very next day.
Wolff assured that that there are zero tensions in the Mercedes garage, and said that what happened on track was in the heat of the moment and that it was forgiven.
“It was encouraging to see our positive performance momentum continue last time out in Turkey,” Wolff said, as quoted by thecheckeredflag.co.uk.
“We haven’t scored back-to-back race wins in a little while, so naturally spirits have been high in the factories since we returned from Istanbul.
“For Lewis, the absolute view of Turkey is that he lost one point more than (title rival) Max (Verstappen) did in the previous race in Russia with a similar engine change, which we can live with.
“The relative view when you’re in the heat of a race is to always want another position, to score more points – that’s who we are as racers and we wouldn’t want that competitive intensity any other way.”
Winning celebration
Wolff also heaped praise on Valtteri Bottas, who ended up beating Red Bull to take P1 in a thrilling race.
“Istanbul was a dominant performance from Valtteri in tricky conditions, taking his first win of the season,” Wolff added.
“A faultless drive from him and he was in control of the race from the very beginning.
“It’s a brilliant boost for him and the team heading into the final part of the season and helping us to extend our lead in the Constructors’ standings,” he concluded.