Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff admitted there was a technical problem with the W15 car driven by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell during the United States Grand Prix race in Austin last weekend.
“(The problem) was 100 percent (caused by) the car. I think even (Hamilton and Russell) didn’t drive (the car) at that stage (causing the accident),” said Wolff, quoted from the official Formula 1 website, Wednesday (23/10).
Meanwhile, Hamilton lost control of his W15 car after just three laps in the main race at the Circuit of the Americas, causing him to fail to finish the race (DNF) for the first time this season since the Dutch GP.
Even with Russell having an accident during the qualifying session one day earlier, Russell managed to improve his performance in the main race.
“We’ve seen it (in qualifying) with George, who was maybe pushing (the car) too hard but suddenly lost control and
hit the wall,” Wolff said.
“We really have a problem. We don’t know if (Hamilton’s problem) is the same as (Russell’s),” he added.
Wolff also expressed his opinion about the five second time penalty imposed on Russell for the incident with Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber).
“I think (the incident) with Valtteri was not even a race,” said Wolff briefly.
On the other hand, Mercedes remains fourth in the constructors’ standings with five rounds remaining in the season. The British team is 152 points behind Ferrari in third place, and 258 points ahead of Aston Martin in fifth. (Ant/Z-1)
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