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“From my point of view, whether or not I’m traumatized by Abu Dhabi, the rules are strictly followed,” said Toto Wolff, whose comments echoed his Red Bull and Ferrari counterparts in stark contrast
Last updated: 14/09/22 4:22pm
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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says his drivers’ third- and fifth-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix is ​​the best they could hope for
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says his drivers’ third- and fifth-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix is ​​the best they could hope for
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff hinted that “Abu Dhabi is traumatised” but he is glad last year’s controversial F1 title decider at least gave the FIA ​​the confidence to make the right decision at the Italian Grand Prix.
Sunday’s race at Monza saw a safety car arrive late, but unlike last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix where Max Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton on the final lap, the race was not restarted and under the circumstances complete below.
There were boos from the stands and criticism from many – including Red Bull and Ferrari bosses – but Wolff praised the handling in the closing stages and took aim at former race director Michael Massey’s less sly dig.
“I’m really happy to see a race director and colleagues enforce the rules to break the rules under pressure from the media and fans,” said the Mercedes team principal.
“So, in that sense at least, Abu Dhabi gives the FIA ​​more confidence to implement these regulations.”
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Lewis Hamilton says Italian GP finale reminds him of 2021 title winner with Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi
Wolff’s comments follow Hamilton, who was aggrieved in Abu Dhabi last year, saying the Monza final brought back “memories” and that “there is only one time in the history of the sport that they did not comply with something like this today. rule, that’s the one that changes the outcome”​​.
Wolff, like his star driver, insisted everything was done according to regulations on Sunday, as the car didn’t get back into place fast enough to get the job done after Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren had a delayed recovery. Green light.
“There are rules, and they’re written down,” Wolfe said. “From my point of view, these rules are strictly followed, whether or not I’ve been traumatized by Abu Dhabi.
“There’s a car on the track, there’s a referee, there’s a crane, that’s why they don’t let anyone overtake, and then once all the cars have caught up, there’s not enough time to start the race again.
“If a guy is not happy with the rules and you want a big bang show and two laps of racing and chaos, I absolutely do. But we need to change the rules.
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Sky F1’s Karun Chandhok explains why the Italian Grand Prix ends behind the safety car and the options the FIA ​​has in this case
“So I don’t think we need to complain about anything that happens because that’s the rule.”
Wolf continued: “I don’t want to make a headline saying, ‘Toto wants to change the rules because the game is a ****’.
“I think we should all sit down and say, ‘Have we done something better?’ But what happened is in the regulatory playbook, and that’s why it’s being applied.”
It has been suggested that F1 should change its safety car finish rules, and Sunday marked the 13th time a winner in the sport’s history has crossed the checkered flag in such circumstances.
Wolfe offers his alternative
“We should be thinking, do we want to finish off the green and reverse engineer it from there.
“So you can say five or 10 laps to the finish, we have a safety car, let’s red flag it – and make sure we race at the end.
“It would be great if this was in the regulations.”
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Christian Horner admits they would have preferred Verstappen to win the race under normal racing rules rather than behind the safety car
Red Bull and Ferrari differ on safety car finish
Red Bull boss Christian Horner: “We don’t want to win the race under the safety car. It’s something we’ve been talking about for years and they should finish the race.
“There’s plenty of time to keep the game going. I think they picked the wrong car, they picked the wrong (George) Russell.
“We have the faster car and we want to win the race on the track, not behind the safety car. We are as disappointed as all the fans because it took away the win in the stands.
“It goes against the principles we have discussed before. The biggest losers are the fans.”
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Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto unhappy with FIA’s imposition of safety car rules in final stages of race
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto: “It’s never a good thing to finish behind the safety car, not for us, but for F1 and the show. I think the FIA ​​has time to act differently today.
“The safety car came ahead of George, but even so, I see no reason not to release the car between the safety car and the leader. If we just wait for safety, we know there is a minimum lap time now, so the run is completely safe.
“Waiting this long is totally wrong and bad for the sport. We had a long discussion with the sport after Abu Dhabi last year because the ultimate goal was to try and restart the game in a safe way, I Think we could have done it today.
“The FIA ​​has changed a lot in this regard, but I still think they need more experience and they need to do better because F1 deserves it.”
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