The Mercedes and Red Bull teams have been going against each other time and again. Now, Toto Wolff has suggested Mercedes have had it enough. He also spoke on the issues the W11 faced on the curves at the Red Bull Ring.
The 2020 F1 season couldn’t have had a more thrilling start, with as many as 9 DNFs in Austria yesterday. There were also 5-second penalties right at the end to Sergio Perez Perez and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
The penalty to Hamilton meant he dropped to 4th from 2nd – where he had originally finished – enabling Lando Norris to his first podium of his F1 career.
Red Bull had a disappointing afternoon, with both Max Verstappen and Alex Albon failing to finish the race. The latter went out after a collision by Hamilton, for which he was handed the aforementioned penalty.
But, this was not the only penalty Hamilton received during the weekend. Right before the start, he was pushed to 5th on the starting grid, after a 3-place grid penalty from qualifying. This was after a protest from Red Bull, who submitted video evidence that Hamilton had ignored yellow flags on Saturday.
If this was not enough, Red Bull had questioned the legality of Mercedes’s DAS system and lodged an official inquiry. FIA cleared the charges and Mercedes were allowed to continue the revolutionary system.
Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff has had it enough from Red Bull
Toto Wolff is clearly not pleased with Red Bull’s over-zealousness to being Mercedes down, by hook or by crook.
“I thought the protest on Friday (DAS) was actually fair play, but not on Sunday. Coming back on Sunday morning, turning around a decision from yesterday, if you have new evidence, that is what the rules allow, you have to take that on the chin.
“But coming back to your question – the gloves are off.”
He also spoke about the sensor issues the Mercedes cars faced in the race.
“I think the reliability issues here come from the kerbs. It’s a great track, but if you run the kerbs too wide, which is within the rules, you damage your suspension.”
“So it is a permanent evaluation of the driver, how quickly you want to go, how much you want to ride the kerbs. By their nature they want to go as quick as possible and if you do that you risk suspension damage or vibrations to the car that can break it.”
Mercedes did well eventually, with Valtteri Bottas winning the first race of the 2020 calendar. They lead the Constructors table, ahead of McLaren.
