On several occasions during the season, the number one of the Mercedes team, Toto Wolff, had reiterated the absolute need for his riders to finish the races, defined the only possible way to bring both championships home in the close fight against Red Bull Honda. Lewis Hamilton’s comeback was long and tiring and materialized at the end of the chaotic race in Jeddah, where the Englishman managed to match rival Max Verstappen on equal points. But during the race there was a particularly tense moment, al 38th lap, when the Dutchman slowed down to concede the position to his opponent, but – according to the commissioners’ sanction – he did it too abruptly, causing Lewis Hamilton to crash behind him.
Following the contact, the Mercedes number 44 lost a side strip of the front wing, while the Red Bull number 33 suffered from cuts in the rear tires that prevented it from pushing in the final race. Fortunately both were able to continue to the checkered flag, and the Race Direction imposed a 10 ″ penalty on Verstappen to be added to the overall time of the race and 2 points to be subtracted from his driving license. During the incident, the furious reaction of Toto Wolff in the pits, who threw the headphones with force, in a fit of anger, did not escape. The Austrian manager explained to the Germans about the Bild: “At that moment I thought we had lost the drivers’ title. Thankfully it didn’t, but I lost a pair of headphones. Only my left ear worked, then they brought me a new pair“.
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