The first free practice session of the weekend has just concluded on the street circuit of the Principality of Monaco, which saw the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finish in third position overall, thanks in part to the modifications made by Mercedes to his W14. Afterwards, team principal Toto Wolff was interviewed in front of the microphones of Sky Sport F1 Italy, where he discussed the updates made to the W14 and the news that has emerged in recent days. Here are his comments:
“But how do you know that John and I didn’t talk about drivers?”
Toto began his intervention by talking about the modifications made to his W14, saying: “It’s always difficult to understand our true level compared to our competitors during the first session. It reminds me of days when we are fast on Fridays, but then when the grip increases, we become slower. We take this weekend to understand, even though here in Monaco, we are aware that we won’t know if the car will be fast. We will understand that more on circuits like Barcelona and the more traditional ones. With the budget cap, we couldn’t make a B car, but for next year, we will change something even in terms of cockpit. We can’t do it now because it would be too expensive, but we will change all the other areas concerning aerodynamics, suspension, and the rear.” – the Mercedes boss explained.
When asked by Mara Sangiorgio about the conversation captured on camera between him and John Elkann in the preceding minutes, the Mercedes boss immediately replied: “It’s always interesting to talk to John because he doesn’t always come to all the races, and it’s always nice to chat with him.”
Regarding the difficulties faced by his second driver, George Russell, in adapting to the new developments brought to the track this weekend, Toto Wolff revealed: “We tried something different in terms of setup in Baku as well, and we saw that it is more difficult for him to adapt in these street circuits, but we will still have to change something in the setup for the second session today, and we will see if it goes better.”
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The team principal of the Silver Arrows then concluded his intervention by joking with Federica Masolin about the rumors that emerged in recent days, suggesting Lewis Hamilton’s contact with the Ferrari team. The German said, “But how do you know that John and I didn’t talk about drivers?”
