Wolff turns on F1 journalist in foul-mouthed ‘black eye’ rant

Cal Gaunt
Friday 17 November 2023 10:57

Toto Wolff was left seething after being questioned about whether the drain cover drama that saw the Las Vegas Grand Prix first practice session abandoned was a 'black eye' for the sport.

Efforts were made to fix a water valve that resulted in substantial damage to Carlos Sainz's Ferrari after he drove over the top of it in the early part of FP1.

The incident triggered a red flag after only eight minutes of track time, and due to safety concerns, the session did not resume.

It led to FP2 being delayed until 2am local time and an extended 90-minute session, afterbthe FIA officially stated that, at the very least, it would be delayed.

Wolff: It's completely ridiculous

But Mercedes team principal Wolff has demanded that the organisers are given credit for their efforts rather than being criticised in the press.

"This is nothing," he said in a press conference after the shortened session.

"We are Thursday night, we have a free practice session one that we are not doing - but they are going to seal the drain covers and nobody is going to talk about it tomorrow morning anymore.

"It's completely ridiculous. How can you even dare try and talk bad about an event that sets the new standards for everything? Then you're speaking about a f****** drain cover that's been done, that's happened before, that's nothing. It's FP1. Give credit to the people that have set up this grand prix, that have made this sport much bigger than it ever was.

"Have you ever spoken good of someone? Ever written a good word? You should about all these people that have been out here. Liberty has done an awesome job and just because in FP1 a drain cover has come undone, we shouldn't be moaning.

"The [Ferrari] car is broken, that is really a shame, for Carlos it could have been dangerous. So between the FIA and the track and the analysts we can make sure that this doesn't happen again. But talking here about a 'black eye' for the sport, on a Thursday evening, nobody watches that in European time anyway. Come on!"

His comments came in the same presser that saw Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur label the incident that led to FP1's abandonment 'unacceptable'.

READ MORE: F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix: Schedule, start times and TV channels for practice, qualifying and race