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Mercedes has denied that its team principal, Toto Wolff, was furious at last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix when Lewis Hamilton sacrificed a podium finish to his team mate, Valtteri Bottas. Following the race, a video emerged of Wolff punching a desk, a chair, and shouting at Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda when Bottas overtook Hamilton on the final corner of the final lap of the race.
Wolff did admit that switching the pair in the closing stages of the race is one of the most difficult decisions that he has made since he has been in charge at Mercedes, with Hamilton fighting for a fourth world championship title against Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.
"Sometimes doing it the right way and standing by your values is f---ing tough, believe me. I feel crap," said Wolff. With regard to the video of Wolff's outburst in the garage however, when asked if the decision to let Bottas through made him lose his temper, a Mercedes spokesman responded: "No. It was simply the release in tension as they crossed the finish line. The guys were really happy with the position swap."
The Mercedes spokesman told Germany's Auto Bild that any confusion from the video was because the swap in position was not seen by those in the Mercedes garage live. "So we had to look at the timing monitor. When it was over, Toto called out but it was a very exciting situation and certainly there was no anger about the outcome. On the contrary," he said.
At the front of the field in Hungary, Sebastian Vettel's team mate Kimi Raikkonen supported him throughout the race despite being quicker. He thought that there was nothing odd about the swap at the end of the race between Hamilton and Bottas. "As I understand, the team decided to swap (positions) and then swap back, so it's pretty straightforward," he said. "I don't think it's the first time somebody has done it."
By winning in Hungary, Sebastian Vettel has extended his championship lead from Lewis Hamilton from 1 point to 14 points going into the summer break. Had Hamilton not swapped positions with Bottas in the final lap, the gap at the front would be smaller, and 11 points would separate them in the championship.
Chris Soulsby
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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krommenaas
Posts: 155
And what will you do if Bottas wins the WDC by 2 points? :)