Wolff insists spin ‘100%’ not Hamilton’s fault as he questions ‘odd’ Russell penalty

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has defended Lewis Hamilton following his early exit from the United States Grand Prix, and insisted there was “definitely” a problem with the seven-time world champion’s car.

Hamilton lost control of his W15 just three laps into Sunday’s encounter at the Circuit of The Americas, sliding through the gravel trap at the same Turn 19 spot where team mate George Russell crashed out of qualifying.

It abruptly ended what had been an electrifying start to the race for the five-time Austin winner, who rose from 17th to 12th on the opening tour, and was left to ponder what might have been when speaking to the media afterwards.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 for his take on Hamilton’s incident and the potential cause, Wolff replied: “100% car. I think he was not even pushing at that stage.

“We’ve seen it [in qualifying] with George, and that was maybe over pushing it, but still abrupt[ly] losing it, putting it in the wall. Today, such a situation, there was wind and there was a little bit of dirty air…

“We have definitely [got] an issue. I don’t know whether it was yesterday the same as today. Definitely Lewis Hamilton doesn’t lose the car like this.”

Wolff also offered his thoughts on the five-second time penalty handed out to Russell for an incident with Kick Sauber rival Valtteri Bottas, having initially made a rare appearance on the radio to describe it as a “total joke”.

Recovering from a pit lane start following his qualifying crash, Russell muscled his way past Bottas under braking for Turn 12 but was deemed by the stewards to have forced the Finn off the track in the process

“I think with Valtteri it wasn’t even a race,” added Wolff, who nonetheless watched his driver progress to a respectable sixth position and salvage some points from the weekend for the team.

“[In the Sprint race] we have seen a few of those incidents which were exactly the same that weren’t penalised, racing for positions actually, real positions, and receiving that penalty is just completely odd and bizarre.”

He added of the stewards: “At the end of the day, it’s a difficult job. Some are very good, some are trying their best. You need to salute these guys.”

Mercedes remain fourth in the constructors’ standings with five rounds to run, 152 points behind third-placed Ferrari and 258 clear of fifth-placed Aston Martin.