Mercedes boss Toto Wolff apologised to Lewis Hamilton and the remainder of the workforce after the seven-time World Champion completed 18th in qualification for the Abu Dhabi GP, his ultimate as a Mercedes driver earlier than his transfer to Ferrari.
It was a poor little bit of luck that received Hamilton in the long run. Trying good in free apply with a automobile that was lastly wanting quick, the Briton appeared poised to make it to Q2 with ease. However in his ultimate run of Q1, the bollard of Kevin Magnussen’s Haas received caught beneath Hamilton’s automobile. The incident resulted in a lack of downforce for the Mercedes and Hamilton, for whom this was purported to be a ultimate swansong with a workforce he achieved a lot, was pressured into the 18th spot forward of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“I simply have to apologise to Lewis,” Wolff instructed Sky Sports activities F1. “Additionally to everybody within the workforce that labored so arduous to make it an incredible finish for him. He was the faster man with that form of setup that we selected on the automobile – additionally to experiment for subsequent yr – and we completely let him down.
“An idiotic mistake of not going earlier. Inexcusable. I’ve hardly ever been so down about what has occurred. Perhaps it summarises the final races we had with him however that is the worst a part of it as a result of it was simply idiotic.”
Wolff was additionally requested whether or not each his Mercedes vehicles popping out throughout site visitors performed its half within the qualification, however he felt that each his drivers had circumvented that difficulty and it might have been an excellent qualification had it not been for the bollard.
Wolff added: “I feel we had been fortunate that each of them (Russell and Hamilton) wrestled their means by means of the opposite site visitors and possibly with out the bollard it might have labored.
“However you don’t threat a lot in a Q1 the place we had simply the tempo to make it out and our most precious racing driver ever – probably the most priceless and biggest driver of this sport – will get out in Q1 as a result of we make a mistake. A dilettante mistake, and that’s simply…it doesn’t break all of the legacy that we’ve with him however I can solely apologize to him.”