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Following the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff likened his team’s race weekend to being punched multiple times in the face. He said he was “angry” that decisions by the FIA stewards had consistently swung against his team and went on to say that, from his perspective, the time for “diplomacy has ended”.
Given the strength of his words, it was perhaps no surprise that Mercedes wrote to the FIA on Tuesday saying it had requested a review of one of the more controversial incidents in the race. Wolff had described the stewards’ decision not to investigate the near collision between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton on lap 48 as “the tip of the iceberg” and “laughable”.
But to understand how we got here, you need to rewind to Friday afternoon in Interlagos and the first decision that went against Mercedes.
In the qualifying session for Saturday’s sprint race, Hamilton had took pole position by 0.4s only to be disqualified from the session when the drag reduction system (DRS) on his car failed a routine test. The flap in the rear wing that opens to reduce drag and increase top speed, opened 0.2 mm further than the 85mm permitted under the regulations. It was only on one side (the right when viewed from the rear) and only when it had pressure forced upon it, but in the black and white world of the technical regulations it was a fail.
Mercedes believed the failure was due to damage to the wing, although the mechanics were not allowed to inspect the components until after the race weekend or attempt to fix the damage to show that the wing was intended to be legal. In fact, the stewards never doubted the legality of Mercedes’ intended design and agreed the most likely reason for the wider opening was down to damage. But a failed test is a failed test regardless of how it comes around, and by the time it is put in front of the stewards they have little choice but to apply the rules and disqualify the car.
Things got murkier on Friday evening…
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Source : espn
