Before the Turkish Grand Prix, Mercedes announced that Lewis Hamilton would be serving a ten-seat penalty for changing the internal combustion engine on his power unit.
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And the Briton had a day to forget in Istanbul Park. Despite the pole position, Hamilton started the race just outside the top 10. However, the Mercedes driver, who ran strong on P3 in the final phase of the race, fell back to fifth place after a poor pit stop strategy had prevented him from taking the podium.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff meanwhile does not rule out another engine penalty for the Briton before the end of the season.
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View history: From the shocking Lewis Hamilton crash to the Ferrari pit stop mistake: The most sensational moments in Bahrain GP history
What did Toto Wolff say?
Mercedes is fighting more often than ever with its engine this season. Valtteri Bottas has already picked up his fifth engine at the Russian GP and Lewis Hamilton is driving his fourth.
Meanwhile, when asked about Lewis Hamilton’s fourth engine after the Turkish GP, Toto Wolff, as quoted by GP Blog, said, “We saw some data on the internal combustion engine that didn’t look promising and failure is a total killer for the championship. ”
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP and Mercedes GP Executive Director Toto Wolff on stage for the F1 Live event during previews before the F1 Australian Grand Prix at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on March 13, 2019 in Melbourne , Australia . (Photo by Clive Mason / Getty Images)
“This one can last until the end of the season, but there may come a time when we say it’s worth taking a new one because the other is still in danger. We’ll have to look at that in the coming races, ”concluded the Mercedes boss.
Lewis Hamilton would fall far behind if he didn’t make a pit stop: Mercedes track engineer
With every other driver around him pitting for a new set of intermediates, Mercedes also asked the Briton to pits. However, Hamilton was in favor of long driving and wanted to finish the race on the same tires.
Little did he know that the Brit lost around 1.5 seconds with every lap and could easily have been overtaken by Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez.
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As quoted by Motorsport.com, the Mercedes track engineer Andrew Shovlin replied to the question about the poor stopping strategy at the Turkish GP: would have lost the place to Sergio (Perez), but would have stayed on P4 in front of Charles (Leclerc). “
Formula 1 F1 – Turkish Grand Prix – Intercity Istanbul Park, Istanbul, Turkey – October 10, 2021. Mercedes Lewis Hamilton in action with Sergio Perez from Red Bull during the REUTERS / Murad Sezer race.
“He [Esteban Ocon] was the only one who finished the race with a set of inters. If we transfer this disparagement to Lewis, he would lose a lot of places by the end of the points, ”concluded the Mercedes engineer. (Translated with Google translator)
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The post More engines and F1 fines for Lewis Hamilton in the pipeline? Wolff gives important information first appeared on monter-une-startup.
