Toto Wolff "losing faith" in FIA stewards after "laughable" decision

Toto Wolff in Brazil — Photo: © LAT Images

São Paulo Grand Prix

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Wolff "losing faith" in FIA stewards after "laughable" decision

Verstappen went unpunished for appearing to force Hamilton off the track on lap 48

Sam Hall

Sunday 14 November 2021 22:14 Updated: 22:19

Toto Wolff has claimed he is "losing faith" in the stewards after a series of decisions went against Mercedes in Brazil.

Lewis Hamilton took a stunning victory in the São Paulo Grand Prix, battling against disqualification from qualifying for a technical infringement with his DRS and a five-place penalty for an engine change.

Speaking ahead of the grand prix, Wolff aired his grievances that Red Bull had been allowed to repair its rear wing under parc fermé conditions for a third successive race.

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In contrast, Mercedes was not allowed to do so despite believing its DRS issue was the result of damage. It led Wolff to comment the sport is "being judged two ways here".

Expanding on this after the race, Wolff explained: “The whole weekend went against us.

"We had a broken part on our rear wing which we couldn’t look at, couldn’t analyse, failed the test and we got disqualified…very harsh.

“And then you see on the Red Bull, repairs on their rear wing three times in a row whilst being in parc fermé with no consequence. That is one thing.

"That really piqued with the decision in the race which was a really strong defence from Max, absolutely an inch over the limit but he needed to do it to defend.

"Lewis just managed it even more brilliantly by avoiding the contact and ending the race that way.

“But that was just over the line. It should have been a five-second time penalty at least and probably Max knew that.

“But brushing it under the carpet is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s laughable.”

Although sympathising with the stewards and accepting any decision will always leave one party "grumpy", Wolff conceded to his growing frustrations.

"When you are taking punches all weekend and then you have such a situation on top of everything, you are just losing faith in a way," he added.

Immediately after Hamilton had claimed his 101st F1 victory, Wolff was viewed celebrating, but also angrily pointing a finger as the camera looked on.

Asked for an explanation behind his reaction, Wolff quipped: "That was just a friendly hello at the race director", referring to Michael Masi.