Apart from being a full-time boss of a Formula 1 team, Mercedes honcho Toto Wolff can give comedians a run for their money. This was pretty evident after his recent mockery of Fernando Alonso regarding his pitlane incident with Lewis Hamilton.
As George Russell hit the wall at Turn 9 in Lap 12, Mercedes and Aston Martin called Hamilton and Alonso in for the pit stop. In doing so, the former McLaren teammates who were jockeying for positions all race dived into the pit together.
After getting their tires changed, Alonso was on his way to go ahead of Hamilton. However, he was made to halt at the last moment as the Mercedes driver came ahead of him by just a fine margin.
Following the sudden halt, Fernando Alonso complained on the radio. He said, following the possible unsafe release of the 38-year-old, “I had to brake, guys.” This was the moment Wolff decided to take action.
Fans react as they saw Wolff back in action
Following the pit lane incident and the Spanish driver’s response, the Mercedes boss decided to mock the melodramatic act of the Aston Martin star with steering wheel antics. As soon as Wolff was at it, the focus of the camera was right on him and it didn’t take fans much longer to notice it and react to it on social media.
Ky on Twitter had something to say about Alonso:
I too thought Fernando exaggerated it with those steering inputs. 😆 pic.twitter.com/FBEweV0Ys5
— Ky (@FiftyBucksVT) June 18, 2023
Nic, on the other hand, was left baffled by Wolff’f reaction:
Wolff mimicking Alonso’s steering 😭😭😭pic.twitter.com/jIwG4JkAhV
— nic 🏁 (@nnicolef1) June 18, 2023
Rin mentioned how Wolff, a man in his 50s, mocked another man in his 40s:
old man on old man violence pic.twitter.com/vtwSWIydct
— rin 🐞 (@goatforty4) June 18, 2023
How did the race turn up for Alonso and Hamilton in the end?
Despite blocking the Aston Martin driver, Hamilton escaped the harsh time penalty, which is very rare in a case like this. However, the Silver Arrows ace couldn’t hold on to his advantage till the end.
After a series of wheel-to-wheel battles, the 41-year-old finally got the better of his former McLaren teammate as he used the DRS to get the better of the W14.
In the end, the two-time world champion trumped the seven-time world champion to finish in P2, behind Max Verstappen and thus made it to his sixth podium in eight races.
