“When Hamilton passed Verstappen he had a 30 km / h advantage at the top speed”. “Mercedes didn’t bring an engine to the track, but a rocket”. These are the hot reactions of Christian Horner and Helmut Marko respectively in the face of the disarming speed displayed by Lewis Hamilton at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where in the Sprint Qualifying he recovered 15 positions up to fifth place, repeating himself in the Grand Prix, won starting from the tenth place on the starting grid. Milton Keynes stable nurtures suspicious on the rear wing of the Mercedes W12, which passed the usual checks at the end of the race as well as the Red Bull RB16-B.
In Brazil, Wolff and Horner ‘only’ raised their voices without moving on to formal protests. The number one of the Mercedes wall waits at the gate for a possible complaint from the opponents: “It’s the new engine that makes the difference – Wolff’s words reported in today’s edition of Corriere dello Sport – our opponents are free to lodge a complaint, we are available and we can also give them a rear wing to put in the living room, or if they prefer to cut into pieces “. The Mercedes team principal has stressed that in the last three races he will leave diplomacy and gentlemen’s pacts aside and these pointed statements prove it.
Wolff did not digest Hamilton’s disqualification for a damaged wing, all while witnessing on several occasions wings replaced ‘free’ by Red Bull under the Parc Fermé regime for safety reasons. Max Verstappen at the end of the race pointed out that in light of the forces on the field, instead of losing 10 points to Lewis Hamilton, he lost only five, having still 14 to manage in three races. At least in one he will have to beat Hamilton, with the unknown factor of two completely new tracks all to be discovered. Reliability will be crucial. Mercedes power units appear to have a life of three races before risking failure due to crankshaft problems. Verstappen runs with the same engine from Sochi and may need fresh horsepower, at the cost of starting further back, perhaps in Qatar.
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