At Sunday’s race, right after he spun Sebastian Vettel, the predictions began to be fulfilled. Red racing in the front, and all in silver in its rear-view mirrors. Lewis Hamilton in Valtteri Bottas they went on a hunt for Charles Leclerc.
But the young Monaco largely kept his nerves calm, winning, and Mercedes was left with a consolation prize in the form of an increase in lead over the Reds in the design standings. When the head of the Mercedes team, Tota Wolff ask what he thinks about the race itself, especially about racing Charles Leclerc, said the Austrian: “As far as his racing is concerned, it seems to me that he may have gone a little over the edge, but what did they have to do? If he was punished in Monza after the race, there would most likely be riots. "
Two situations in particular are controversial, the closure of Hamilton when overtaking in the second turn, for which Leclerc earned a warning in the form of black and white flags and driving past the first chicane after the front left wheel blocked Monaco.
"Of course we want attractive duels on the track, but where is the limit we can go to?" wonders Wolff and adds: “I could get punished for both situations. Before the race, I said we would be happy with second and third place, but now I'm still angry about the way it happened. " Mercedes has dominated Monza so far during hybrid powertrains, with Hamilton always finishing on the podium and winning four times in the last six performances, but Wolff also found a few words of praise for Leclerc in the end: “He drove a tough but at the same time brilliant race. No matter what, Ferrari also had a perfectly prepared car. We tried everything, but in the end it wasn't enough. "
