The Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, has described his strong words to Lewis Hamilton, in effective demanding his driver focus on his job, as an effort to calm things down at a fractious Austrian Grand Prix.
After the race the FIA, motor sport’s governing body, also reacted to a host of track-limit violations, including those that had been exercising Hamilton and that went on to change the results post-race, by insisting the circuit make changes to allow Formula One to continue to race at the Red Bull Ring.
During the race, Wolff had to admonish Hamilton as he persisted in a string of complaints about the track-limits issue for which he was penalised. It was a necessary interjection, Wolff insisted. “Only for the best of the drivers and in the best interests of the drivers and of the team,” he said. “Sometimes there is a certain moment you need to calm things down.
“We had a lot of discussion about track limits and whether they were enforced or not and I felt I wanted to just make sure we were getting the best out of the package that didn’t perform and just drive to give it the best shot that we have.”
He insisted there was no impact on discussions over Hamilton’s contract renewal and that it was still on course to be concluded, alluding to it being for several years. “It’s not a money discussion. It’s about the future, about what we want to do right and optimise, we are not talking any more about duration or money, it’s other topics.”
The track-limit issue, however, hung over the race long after it had finished. After a protest by Aston Martin, the FIA said it had identified 1,200 potential infringements and that it was going to have to assess them all. It did so, finding 12 further transgressions by eight drivers and applying retroactive penalties. It concluded that the main area of contention, turns nine and 10, could not be policed in its present form.
“An unprecedented situation arose which resulted in all potential infringements not being able to be reviewed during the race,” the FIA said. “In order to address the issue for future events we will renew our recommendation to the circuit to add a gravel trap at the exit of turns nine and 10.”
