Mercedes Anticipated Hamilton’s Struggle in Baku: A Deep Dive into the Team’s Calculated Risk

Toto Wolff anticipated Lewis Hamilton's challenging race in Baku, reports Lewis Larkam.

Mercedes F1 team leader Toto Wolff stated that Lewis Hamilton's difficult race was expected by the team following an engine penalty.

Following a seventh-place qualification in Baku, with his teammate George Russell finishing two spots ahead, Mercedes decided to install a new power unit in Hamilton's W15, resulting in a pit lane start for him.

The seven-time world champion experienced a challenging race, managing to secure points by finishing ninth, a position achieved only after Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz were eliminated from contention due to a significant collision on the second-to-last lap.

"Mercedes team principal Wolff conceded that they were aware it would be an extremely challenging race due to the difficulty of overtaking in Baku, and indeed, it turned out to be precisely that."

"As soon as you get near, the tires get too hot and then you end up falling behind. That's exactly what occurred with him."

Mercedes was aware that they would need to add a new engine to Hamilton's selections during this season following the engine breakdown the 39-year-old British driver experienced in Australia earlier in the year.

Discussing the reasoning for choosing to accept the penalty in Baku, Wolff explained, "I believe there are two challenging philosophies, and we had extensive discussions about it.

One approach is to simply accept the situation as it is, because once we reach P7, predicting the outcome becomes uncertain, and then proceeding with it in Austin.

"We believe that Austin presents an opportunity, which guided our decision. Whether it was the correct choice or not, I'm uncertain, but it was definitely a tight decision."

In a conversation with Crash.net and other media outlets following the race, Hamilton disclosed that a part of his car was not properly constructed.

"He commented on the exceptionally poor balance he experienced, stating, 'It was among the most terrible balances I've ever encountered – truly one of the worst.' He elaborated, 'Essentially, there was an overwhelming amount of front end but absolutely no rear support."

"The issue isn't with your driving technique. To lose grip at the front, I found myself having to sharply pull on the steering wheel, making the front end skid around each turn. It was such an odd method of driving I had to adopt."

"I was aware that passing wasn't an option for me. Keeping up is challenging when you're in the middle, but the goal was to at least stay near until the finish. I'm unsure why we were lagging in speed on our end. These things occur."

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