Source: Mercedes F1 Twitter
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says “if I look at the impeding from Alonso in Q1, that is clear impeding and there was no further investigation”.
Lewis Hamilton was eliminated from Dutch Grand Prix Qualifying in Q2, and team boss Toto Wolff thinks this happened due to the Briton being impeded by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
Tsunoda impeded Hamilton in his final Q2 flying lap, and he was subsequently penalised with a three-place grid penalty.
“It’s a shame because the pace was there all weekend and we would have had two cars competing right in the front,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
“Overall the session was a mixture between maybe being too close to [Lando] Norris, but that’s not the main thing.
“The impeding is just a disaster in Q2 and I think on this quickest lap, he was impeded by Tsunoda going into the final straight and that cost the position.
“I think the backing off on the first flying lap would be us, because he was too close to Norris and then you are a little bit out of sync, but I think the thing was the impeding.
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“You need to have this one lap at the end and he didn’t have that.”
Lance Stroll was also investigated for impeding Lewis, but was ultimately cleared by the stewards. However, Toto says Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso also impeded Lewis in Q1, and wasn’t even investigated.
“Lewis has had good pace all weekend, and it is really painful to see [the gap between Hamilton and Russell] because of traffic and not going into Q3 which he would have deserved,” the Austrian said.
“The impeding is pretty ugly to look at. I don’t know whether it has become a bit of a pattern because people simply don’t care and they don’t get penalised.
“If I look at the impeding from Alonso in Q1, that is clear impeding and there was no further investigation.
“Somebody has to open their eyes, and [the impeding] cost [Lewis a spot in] Q3,” Wolff concluded.
