Following Max Verstappen’s reprieve, Toto Wolff demands a meeting with the FIA to discuss a “awkward” issue.
Toto Wolff has delivered his thoughts on the FIA impeding issue after drivers avoided punishment at the Mexican Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen was handed a reprimand in Singapore
Toto Wolff thinks that talking to the directors and drivers would be the best approach for the FIA to address the issue of obstacles during qualifying.
It happened after Niels Wittich, in an attempt to ensure there were no traffic issues during the Italian Grand Prix, instituted a maximum lap time. Since then, other races have followed suit. A further issue that has emerged as drivers compete for the best track position during qualifying is blocking.
However, since the maximum lap time has been imposed, drivers have made gaps by standing still between both Safety Car Lines. Max Verstappen was handed a reprimand at the Singapore Grand Prix but race chiefs admitted that was a mistake and he should have been penalised.
Similar actions were taken by multiple drivers in Mexico, but this time, no further action was taken. Wolff of Mercedes now asserts that the FIA must make the rules more clear to the drivers. Wolff stated to reporters, “I believe the FIA should have a meeting with the drivers and Sporting Directors to determine our precise goals.
“In the end, our main goal is to avoid any obstructions and to ensure that no one gets left in the pit. How then can we make that happen? Although I am aware that it is preferable to remain motionless in the pit lane than to obstruct someone [on the track], it still seems strange. Because some people might not finish the lap, it is unfair.”
This weekend is the Brazilian Grand Prix and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to try and close the gap on second-place Sergio Perez. The Englishman is 20 points behind Perez in the Drivers’ Championships with three races remaining after Perez crashed out in Mexico.
The majority of it depends on Checo’s [Perez] weekends, according to Hamilton. “They drive the car that won the championship. He’s just had some bad luck in certain situations. He lost points here, but I lost a good number of points in the last two races. I didn’t think I would be in the ballpark after losing the points last week, but after today, we’ll give it our best shot. If we place second in the drivers’, that’s a bonus.”
Meanwhile, after the Mexico Grand Prix where Hamilton finished second, Wolff said: “I think it was a first where he said ‘the car is actually good!’ But it was a brilliant, brilliant drive and we have these oscillations in performance. We don’t really know, sometimes the tyres stick, sometimes not.
“We were grinning since the car was powerful. We had a huge lead on the final medium-fastest lap, I believe, once Lewis was in free air. It worked well.
