Mercedes Anticipated Lewis Hamilton’s Baku Struggles, Says Toto Wolff

Why Mercedes Anticipated a Difficult Race for Lewis Hamilton in Baku

According to Toto Wolff, Lewis Hamilton's challenging race was expected, as reported by Lewis Larkam from Baku.

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

Following a seventh-place qualifying position in Baku, and trailing teammate George Russell by two spots, Mercedes decided to install a new power unit in Hamilton's W15, resulting in him starting from the pitlane.

The seven-time world champion faced a challenging race, ultimately securing a points finish in ninth place. This outcome was possible only after Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz collided in a significant crash on the second-to-last lap.

Mercedes team principal Wolff acknowledged that they were expecting a challenging race, anticipating a struggle due to the difficulty of overtaking in Baku, and that prediction turned out to be accurate.

"As soon as you get near, the tires start to overheat, causing you to lose ground. That's exactly what occurred in his case."

Mercedes realized that at some point this season, they would need to add a new power unit to Hamilton’s collection after the 39-year-old British driver encountered an engine malfunction in Australia earlier in the year.

Discussing why the penalty was chosen in Baku, Wolff stated, “There are two challenging perspectives, and we had an extensive discussion about them.”

"One option is to simply accept the situation now because, beginning with P7, the outcome is uncertain. Then, it can be addressed in Austin."

“We see potential in Austin, which influenced our decision. Whether it was the right choice or not, I’m unsure, but it was a tough decision to make.”

In a post-race interview with media outlets such as Crash.net, Hamilton disclosed that a part of his car had been improperly assembled.

He said, "This was likely the most unbalanced I've ever experienced – among the worst, for sure. Essentially, I had a lot of grip in the front but none in the back."

"It's not about your driving technique. I had to sharply turn the steering wheel to lose grip at the front tires, causing the front end to slide through each corner. It's the strangest driving method I've ever had to use."

The driver expressed that he realized overtaking was not feasible. He mentioned that it's challenging to stay close in the middle of the race and at least be near the front by the end. He was unsure about why their speed was lacking on their end and acknowledged that such things can occur.

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