THE MOTORSPORT LAP
Bottas, Hamilton let down the team
The Austrian Grand Prix was the worst one yet for Mercedes-AMG according to team boss Toto Wolff
Mercedes-AMG had its worst outing this past weekend since 2016’s Spanish Grand Prix when both its cars failed to finish the Austrian Grand Prix. First, Valtteri Bottas experiencing hydraulic issues that put paid to his campaign after starting on the podium for Sunday’s race. Then his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, also retired in the latter part of the race with fuel pressure issues compounded by the fact that the team missed the window of opportunity by not pitting under the VSC (Virtual Safety Car) that was dispatched following Bottas’ retirement. This subsequently saw Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen win the race ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastien Vettel respectively. "We made a mistake and what I think happened is that we were running one and two and controlling the race," says Mercedes-AMG team principal, Toto Wolff. "Suddenly you see Valtteri stopping with a hydraulic leak. The VSC came out we had half a lap to react and we didn’t. Fact. This is where we l...
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