Lewis Hamilton given public dressing-down by Toto Wolff during awful Austrian GP

02 July 2023 , 15:21

900     0

Toto Wolff lost his patience with Lewis Hamilton during the Austria race (Image: HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Lewis Hamilton was told off by an irritated Toto Wolff TWICE during the Austrian Grand Prix as the seven-time world champion lost his cool.

The race began well for the Brit who got a good launch off the line. As Lando Norris was preoccupied by Lance Stroll, he slipped past his compatriot into fourth place.

But he was struggling to find the pace in his Mercedes to charge at the Ferraris ahead of him. Instead, he had to be more worried about Norris who was all over his gearbox.

Hamilton lost his temper after he was given a penalty for exceeding track limits. He was one of several drivers to be given such a punishment as the Formula 1 stewards applied the law mercilessly.

That was no comfort to, him, though. Instead, he spent much of the rest of the race complaining about other drivers not being given penalties.

Sebastian Vettel warns of looming F1 ban and is "very worried about the future"

First to be on the receiving end of his ire was Sergio Perez. Hamilton was constantly accusing the Mexican of going outside the white lines – becoming such a distraction that Wolff intervened to ask him to focus on his driving.

That first message from the Austrian was fairly polite, and Hamilton obliged for a while. But later in the race he was moaning again, this time about Norris who had slipped ahead of him.

Lewis Hamilton endured a nightmare race at the Austrian Grand Prix (AP)

This time, as Wolff felt the need to intervene again, the Mercedes chief had clearly lost his patience and snapped at the seven-time world champion. "Lewis, the car is bad, we know – please drive it," was his abrupt message.

Hamilton's race did not improve in the latter stages. Fernando Alonso also got the better of his old F1 rival to take sixth place away from him, meaning Hamilton crossed the line seventh.

George Russell progressed a few places up the grid from his starting position but could manage only eight, just behind his team-mate. It meant a poor result for Mercedes overall who lost ground to Ferrari in the tight battle for second place in the constructors' championship.

Daniel Moxon