Toto Wolff's 11-word statement on Lewis Hamilton crash will be relief to Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton's US Grand prix came to a premature extremity successful Austin, but Mercedes main Toto Wolff has maintained that the occupation lied with the car and not with the superstar British driver

Mercedes main Toto Wolff has insisted that Lewis Hamilton was not liable for his abrupt clang astatine the United States Grand Prix connected Sunday.

Wolff's reassurance that the British fable was not astatine responsibility for the incident, which saw him rotation disconnected the way aboriginal on, volition nary uncertainty beryllium a alleviation for Ferrari. Despite the Italian squad securing the apical 2 spots connected the podium successful Austin, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz taking 1 and 2 respectively, they volition person had a disquieted oculus fixed connected the Hamilton drama.

The 39-year-old is joining Ferrari adjacent twelvemonth on a blockbuster three-year deal, and they whitethorn good person been acrophobic astatine Hamilton's disastrous race. However, immoderate fears they could beryllium adding a perchance past-it Hamilton to their roster volition person been alleviated by Wolff claiming post-race "Lewis Hamilton doesn’t suffer a car connected thigh 5 similar this”.

Hamilton's elimination was 1 incidental successful a Grand Prix stacked with drama, successful what proved to beryllium a lively day successful Texas. Attempting to marque up crushed from 17th connected the grid aft his daze Q1 exit successful qualifying connected Saturday, Hamilton was up to 12th wrong the archetypal 2 laps.

However, things past took a crook for the worse arsenic his Mercedes spun disconnected the way arsenic helium leaned into Turn 19 for the 2nd time. Hamilton past recovered himself beached successful the gravel and his expansive prix firmly over.

His Mercedes team-mate, George Russell, who went connected to decorativeness the contention successful sixth aft staging a stunning betterment thrust from the pit lane, had crashed astatine the aforesaid country successful qualifying connected Saturday. Mercedes introduced their last upgrade of the play successful Austin but suffered passim the weekend, and speaking aft the race, Wolff maintained that the rotation was car related and not down to the seven-time champion's handling.

"Where I beryllium astatine the infinitesimal it's 100 per cent not Lewis' responsibility and that's not to accidental that I'm protecting him," Wolff said. "It's wide it was gusty, determination was a slipstream, however does each of that interact?

"Lewis Hamilton doesn't suffer the car similar this. He was not adjacent pushing astatine that stage. We saw it with George connected Saturday, possibly that was possibly over-pushing it, but inactive abrupt losing it and putting it successful the wall. Today, determination was upwind and a spot of soiled aerial from the car successful front. We decidedly person an issue. I don't cognize if yesterday was the same."

Despite Wolff absolving him, Hamilton himself apologised for the incidental aft the race. He told Sky Sports F1: "I mean that's ne'er happened before. A archetypal for everything, I guess.

"I wasn't adjacent truly pushing astatine that point. The car conscionable started bouncing and Bono [race technologist Peter Bonnington] said I conscionable got a 40kph tailwind but the near instrumentality was bouncing up successful the aerial and past I mislaid the backmost end.

"We person three-wheeling sometimes, it's been an contented for us. I've conscionable ne'er had that hap before. The aforesaid happening happened to George connected this caller update bundle that we worked truthful hard to bring.

"He's fortunately doing a bully occupation [in the race, wherever helium finished sixth from the pit lane] but he's got the aged bundle connected and it'll beryllium absorbing to spot if there's learnings for it.

"It's truthful upsetting, I'm truthful atrocious to each the squad backmost astatine the factory. I've ne'er spun disconnected successful the contention I don't deliberation before. It was not that I was not focused, I was truly caught by astonishment by this bouncing that I had and evidently I'm devastated.

"But onwards and upwards, what tin I do? I'll conscionable effort and hole amended for adjacent week and hopefully person the car successful a amended place."

While Hamilton's incidental was the speech of the Grand Prix, it did besides diagnostic a hefty bout of contention betwixt rubric contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. The young Brit said the determination to penalise him with a timed punishment for a passing determination connected Verstappen was a "momentum killer" for his title hopes.

The punishment took Norris from from 3rd to 4th place, 1 presumption down Verstappen. The Red Bull prima has present extended his pb astatine the apical to 57 points with 5 races to spell and 146 points inactive up for grabs.