Mercedes needs to 'work on trust' after Lewis Hamilton again questions strategy - Wolff

Hamilton, Wolff, Mercedes — Photo: © LAT Images

Turkish Grand Prix

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Mercedes needs to 'work on trust' after Hamilton again questions strategy - Wolff

Hamilton repeatedly questioned Mercedes' desire to pit during the Turkish Grand Prix

Sam Hall

Sunday 10 October 2021 17:28 Updated: 17:34

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has conceded the team need to work "on the communication to trust each other" after Lewis Hamilton again questioned the team's strategy calls.

Hamilton and the Mercedes pit wall combined over the radio in Russia to take a masterful victory as rain fell late on but in Turkey, Hamilton's questioning left him in somewhat of a strategic no man's land.

Hamilton had taken his balding intermediate tyres to within eight laps of the chequered flag after ignoring earlier calls to pit from his strategy team before eventually stopping.

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But Hamilton was left without time to work through the graining phase of his new set of tyres and make progress, a fate that could have been avoided had he not gone against the calls to 'box' eight laps prior.

"I think we just really need to work on the communication to trust each other and in a way be able to describe what we are aiming for," explained Wolff.

“We have no problem at all with tough conversations on the radio before you have complete information and obviously, we wouldn’t speak like this to Lewis because he is driving the car at 320kmph.

“But that is all okay, so absolutely we are totally aligned. We have been together for eight years and we have thick skin enough to understand that a driver in the car is just frustrated about a situation but he will understand afterwards.”

Fifth place resulted In Hamilton leaving Turkey with a six-point deficit to Max Verstappen in the standings after the Dutchman finished second.

Asked how Mercedes could be more forceful with instructions to its drivers, Wolff added: “It’s very difficult because the communication needs to flow in both directions and that is crucial.

"The pilot is the vital sensor on track that will tell you about the grip levels.

“But the pilot doesn’t see himself relative to the other drivers and the other performances.

"So that information we need to work on because we’ve had what Lewis called a ‘genius stroke’ in terms of strategy last time around."