Wolff urges ‘common sense’ after Marko’s F1 stewards comments
Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff says it is important to view incidents with “common sense” after Helmut Marko claimed Red Bull is being treated differently by the stewards.
Title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were caught up in multiple incidents last Sunday in Jeddah that led to the stewards handing Verstappen two penalties.
After being told to give Hamilton a position back after an off-track pass earlier in the race, Verstappen was later hit with a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage when defending the lead.
Verstappen was also given a 10-second penalty post-race for causing a collision after the stewards deemed he was “erratic” when braking to try and let Hamilton past ahead of the final corner.
Red Bull advisor Marko told Motorsport.com after the race that the team felt it was “not treated the same” by the stewards, citing Hamilton running too slowly ahead of the first red flag restart and forcing Verstappen wide at the final corner as incidents that were not looked at.
Marko was also unhappy that Hamilton had avoided any material action for impeding Nikita Mazepin in practice on Friday, saying: “It's a very one-side tending decision-making here.”
Helmut Marko, Consultant, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Asked by Motorsport.com for his thoughts on Marko’s comments after Sunday’s race, Wolff said: “You need to dig quite deep to come up with things that went against Max today.
“I can’t comment on what they say.
“I think in Brazil, we felt that it was harsh against us, with a disqualification for the sprint race. Who would have thought that we can come back?
“I think that Lewis could have scored three points in that sprint race, and didn’t score any. And that could be valuable points.
“Someone is always going to be unhappy about things. I’m trying, with all my bias, still to try to look at things with a common sense. I guess I’m not always successful in the heat of the moment.”
Hamilton and Verstappen are tied on points heading into Sunday’s championship showdown, but both have been involved in incidents over the past three grands prix that have led to reviews by the stewards.
In Brazil, Hamilton was excluded from qualifying after his car failed a technical check, only to fight back and win the race on Sunday following a wheel-to-wheel fight with Verstappen.
Verstappen was given a grid penalty in Qatar for not slowing for yellow flags, while Hamilton was summoned for two incidents in final practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix ahead of the incidents in the race.
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