Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted a strong desire to apologize to Lewis Hamilton for his Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying disaster. A bollard got stuck under the floor of Hamilton’s W15 car, which prevented him from setting a faster time, resulting in a Q1 exit. Wolff admitted that the strategy wasn’t good enough and that letting him out late for the session was a bad idea.
The seven-time world champion’s hopes of making it big in his final race with Mercedes were destroyed after Haas’ Kevin Magnussen hit a bollard, which was knocked onto the track before it ended up right under Hamilton’s car. While it eventually dislodged on its own, he was unable to punch in a faster lap time.
Wolff, however, explained that it was “idiotic” not to let Hamilton out early, especially when the car was set up in a way that would have helped the Briton secure a strong race position. He told Sky Sports F1:
“I just need to apologise to Lewis and also everyone in the team that worked so hard in making it a great end for him.
“He was the quicker guy with that set-up we chose on the car to also experiment for next year and we totally let him down.
“An idiotic mistake of not going earlier. Inexcusable, inexcusable.
“I have rarely been so down about what has happened. Maybe it summarises the last races we have had with him, but this is the worst part of it because it was just idiotic.”
He added:
“We were lucky that both of them wrestled their way through the traffic. Maybe without the bollard it would have worked.
“But you don’t risk so much in Q1 where we easily had the pace to make it out.”
Wolff expressed disappointment that the team let Hamilton down in its last race with him, marking the end of a 12-season partnership that saw eight Constructors’ Championships and six world titles. Considering he was third fastest in FP3, Wolff reckoned Hamilton had a chance to secure a podium finish in the Grand Prix. He added:
“Our most valuable racing driver ever, the most valuable and greatest driver of this sport goes out in Q1 because we make a mistake.
“That doesn’t ruin all the legacy we have with him, but I can only say sorry to him.
“He was there. We would have had a real go for the podium.
“He was P3 this morning and now it’s pretty much impossible from where he is.”
Hamilton qualified P18 but Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon’s grid penalties meant the 39-year-old was pushed up two positions for Sunday’s race at the Yas Marina Circuit.
