Mercedes Chief Toto Wolff Slams Max Verstappen, Calls His Defence Tactics 'Laughable'

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff slammed Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, calling his defense "laughable" after Lewis Hamilton claimed a sensation victory in Sao Paulo on Sunday.

A frustrated Verstappen defended from Verstappen robustly but could not stop the Brit from winning the race despite starting at P10 on the grid.

Mercedes were found to have breached the regulations on their DRS and as a result, Hamilton was forced to start Saturday’s sprint qualifying from 20th. The reigning champion showed his class and character as he impressed through the field in the sprint from 20th to fifth, making 15 decisive overtaking drills to do so. For taking a new engine at the start of the weekend, Hamilton was slapped with a five-grid penalty.

As a result, Hamilton started from 10th in the main race in Sao Paulo but he delivered when his team needed it the most.

Hamilton passed his title rival despite tough - even controversial - defence from Verstappen to take a spectacular victory.

"I mean the whole weekend went against us. We had a broken part on our rear wing which we couldn’t look at, couldn’t analyze. And after [we were] disqualified – very harsh. And after you see Red Bull repair three times on the rear wing whilst being in Parc Ferme, with no consequence. That’s one thing and obviously, that really peaked when the decision in the race, which was, I mean, really strong defense from Max," Mercedes boss Wolff was quoted by Formula1.com, as saying, after the race in Brazil.

With the latest victory in Sao Paulo, Hamilton, who is aiming to win a record eighth drivers' title, has cut the deficit to 14 points from Verstappen in this season’s title race.

"Absolutely an inch over the limit, but he needed to defend, but Lewis just managed it even more brilliantly by avoiding the contact and end the race that way. That was just over the line – should have been a five-second penalty at least – and probably Max knew that. Just brushing it under the carpet is just the tip of the iceberg. I mean, it’s laughable," added Wolff in the same interview.

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, who started on pole position, lost the lead to Verstappen at turn one while behind them Hamilton wasted little time as he began to launch himself through the field. By turn 10 on lap one, the reigning champion had reached P7. By lap two, Hamilton had passed Sebastian Vettel for sixth place and soon after that, he went past Carlos Sainz for fifth. A lap letter, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc lost his fourth spot to Hamilton and during lap five, Hamilton was third behind Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez.

Perez tried to keep Hamilton away from Verstappen for as long as he could, before losing his third spot to Bottas, who benefitted from stopping under the Virtual Safety Car to undercut the Mexican driver.