Providing strategy entertainment would be 'negligent, foolish and complacent' - Wolff

Mercedes

Providing strategy entertainment would be 'negligent, foolish and complacent' - Wolff

Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas start in Hungary on the front row

Ian Parkes

Saturday 18 July 2020 21:03 Updated: 21:15

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Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has insisted he will not be "negligent" by implementing offsetting strategies for his drivers simply for the sake of entertaining the Formula 1 fans.

With Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas on the front row of the grid for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix, and with both starting on the medium tyre, other than rain spicing up the show there is little hope of an exciting battle for the lead.

Suggested to Wolff the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix scrap between Hamilton and then team-mate Nico Rosberg was a possible way forward, when the pair had opposing strategies that produced a thrilling wheel-to-wheel fight, the Austrian explained why that would not happen in this case.

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"We know what happened in 2014, and it was a very unpleasant year for us," said Wolff, referencing the bitterness that unfolded between Hamilton and Rosberg as their fight intensified. "We all loved Bahrain but it escalated further on.

"When you look back at the past six and a half years, we have been lucky to win six constructors' championships and six drivers' championships, so from that standpoint, what we have done strategy-wise wasn't wrong.

"You could argue, is it the right thing for the spectacle, to provide entertainment? I'm not sure I can answer this question.

"We are at a stage of the season where, into the third racing weekend and there are probably 15 more to go, I wouldn't take it easy.

"I don't want to make a decision here that could be negligent, throw away valuable points and find myself in a position where Red Bull comes back strong at the end of the season, and we've been a little bit foolish and complacent.

"In that respect, I'm not saying no to alternative race strategies. I'm not sure I want to deploy this tomorrow in Hungary."

While Wolff maintains a discussion on such a possibility has taken place, he will at least allow his drivers to race one another if the opportunity allows, although such a spectacle may be in short supply given how notoriously difficult it is to overtake at the Hungaroring.

"The drivers have always been free to race each other but battling with competitors meant we didn't want to analyse one or the other driver by running offset strategies," added Wolff.

"It may come to a point, that in order to protect race wins, we will do that, but that would be different to what we have done in the past. For the time being, we will stick to what we have always done."

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