Toto Wolff dismisses Christian Horner's Lewis Hamilton 'gamesmanship' remark

Hamilton in Hungary — Photo: © LAT Images

Hungarian Grand Prix

Wolff dismisses Horner's Hamilton 'gamesmanship' remark

Hamilton slowed to just 22mph on his final out lap of qualifying

Sam Hall

Saturday 31 July 2021 17:55

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has dismissed Christian Horner's claim that Lewis Hamilton played games with Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix

On his final out lap of qualifying at the Hungaroring, Hamilton slowed to just 22mph at one stage as he attempted to create a gap to Mercedes' team-mate Valtteri Bottas ahead of him.

The slow pace resulted in Hamilton crossing the line to begin his timed effort with just seconds to spare. Behind him, Verstappen also narrowly managed to beat the clock, but Perez missed out.

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Red Bull team principal Horner later claimed Hamilton's antics were "a bit of gamesmanship" but Wolff dismissed the suggestion

“That is not something you discuss," said Wolff. "I think everybody tried to have the biggest possible gaps.

"We saw the average was somewhere between seven and eight seconds through all the qualifying sessions but the camera was pointed on there so maybe we didn’t see everybody else doing it.

“I’m happy because we expected Hungary to be more tricky for us, especially in those conditions and locking the front row out gives you a certain advantage for tomorrow.”

Gasly could lead out of turn one!

Much of the build-up to this weekend's race has been spent dissecting the lap one contact between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at the British Grand Prix.

Commenting on the expected battle into turn one tomorrow, Wolff joked: “If I start teaching my drivers about how to approach turn one, it is actually completely gone off the rails.

“Let’s see what happens tomorrow. I think it’s going to be an exciting start.

“Maybe [Pierre] Gasly leads after turn one and all four cars are out. I’m just joking! I hope not.

“But it will be an exciting turn one and for sure from the strategy, we will see some interesting manoeuvres.”