Lewis Hamilton F1 News: Wolff UNIMPRESSED by close call at Spanish GP

Lewis Hamilton, Toto Wolff, Social, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

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Wolff UNIMPRESSED by Hamilton close call at Spanish GP

Lewis Hamilton was involved in an incident at the Spanish Grand Prix

Originally written by Kevin McKenna. This version is a translation.

Sunday 23 June 2024 22:00

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has pointed out that there is a significant problem for F1 to deal with on track.

Spaniard Carlos Sainz topped the timesheets in final practice for his home grand prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

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Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc rounded off the top three, with defending world champion Max Verstappen going fourth quickest.

After what had been a low-key session, it sparked to life in the closing stages.

Lewis Hamilton has been backed by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff

Lance Stroll was called by race stewards after making contact with Hamilton

What happened to Hamilton in Barcelona?

Seven-time world champion Hamilton was involved in a similar incident, coming into contact with Lance Stroll after the Canadian deemed his rival to have hampered his progress, a move which also brought an investigation from race officials.

“This f**king guy thinks he’s alone on the track,” said an incensed Stroll over team radio, before Hamilton apologised for failing to see the Aston Martin star.

Speaking after the event, Wolff admitted he was amazed more incidents like the ones seen in Barcelona are not more commonplace, particularly in qualifying.

"I am amazed we don’t have proper accidents in qualifying, when everybody is flat out, you’ve got to do the lap, our engineers are constantly on the radio saying: ‘be careful’," he told Sky Sports.

Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc also got in each other's way during FP3

"I don’t want to cloud this, but it’s [an accident] waiting to happen."

Addressing Stroll's comments, the Austrian added: "I can understand it in the heat of the moment sometimes, when you’re on your fast lap and being blocked.

"But it’s never the driver’s fault - we’re getting the instructions from the garage about the traffic situation, and nobody does it on purpose because you know you can have a penalty."

Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Mercedes McLaren Lando Norris Charles Leclerc