“It’s a possibility”– Mercedes boss Toto Wolff contemplating to take Lewis Hamilton engine penalty in Turkey

“It’s a possibility”– Mercedes boss Toto Wolff claims that they are considering taking the fourth engine for Lewis Hamilton in Turkey.

Lewis Hamilton is due to take his fourth engine, forcing him to serve a grid penalty and giving max Verstappen to regain his lead in the drivers’ championship.

Earlier, Toto Wolff said that they would spontaneously take the fourth engine for Hamilton; but in the latest update, Mercedes could suggest Hamilton take that engine in the next Grand Prix, which will be in Turkey.

“It’s a possibility,” Wolff told Sky Sports News, though he added: “When, and how, is not yet decided.” With hamilton only having a two-point lead over Verstappen, for him, a DNF shall be avoided at any cost.

“Most important is that you don’t DNF because of a reliability issue,” added Wolff. “You can cope with swings, whether you finish second, third, I think that is OK, the championship is going to go long. But if you don’t finish.”

“So we are looking at the parameters of the engines, making sure we don’t suffer from any reliability problem.”

Is Max Verstappen 2nd place in Russia a game-changer?

In the last race, Verstappen took the engine penalty that brought him directly at the last spot of the grid before the race start. It gave a golden opportunity to Hamilton to have an extensive lead over Verstappen.

Though the Briton did his part by winning the race, it was not as fruitful as expected, as the Dutchman made a massive leap from P20 to P2, giving only a two-point lead to Hamilton.

ESPN2 got a 0.49 rating and 833,000 viewers for Sunday’s F1 race in Russia, where Lewis Hamilton became the first driver with 100 wins, the most-viewed edition of the race in the U.S. since it started in 2014. pic.twitter.com/R8aApLs3U4

— Adam Stern (@A_S12) September 28, 2021

And Mercedes considered it as a victory to Verstappen. This is now reflecting with the potential consequences to Hamilton for taking an engine hit.

So, if Hamilton goes with an engine in Turkey, it will be Verstappen’s race to lose. However, even Hamilton can also make a massive jump to the podium from the last row start.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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