Jun.15 (GMM) Dutch GP boss Jan Lammers is astonished at the language used by Toto Wolff to describe the 2022 Mercedes car.
Whilst radioing Lewis Hamilton after the chequered flag at Baku, the Mercedes boss apologised to the seven time world champion for the Brackley-made “sh*tbox”.
“I have never heard such a statement from a team boss in my entire career,” the former F1 driver told NOS.
“I’ve never heard a team boss talk like that about his own team and I don’t understand why the PR team doesn’t intervene. You can’t represent the brand like that.”
Lammers also said he has noticed that Wolff talks to Hamilton in a notably different way compared to the 37-year-old Briton’s more competitive teammate George Russell.
“Maybe it has not been broadcast, but I have not heard Wolff talk like that to Russell when he is dealing with the same discomfort as Hamilton,” he said.
“Why don’t we hear Wolff thanking Russell? And why do we only hear the negative things about Hamilton?”
Like some others, Lammers also wonders how theatrical both Wolff and Hamilton’s statements and behaviours are.
“The pattern I see is that the things Hamilton and Wolff say after the race are disproved a day later,” he said. “I think Hamilton should do more as a leader of the team.
“Mercedes could choose to raise the car a bit because then there is much less porpoising, but they don’t want to do that because they’ll be slower.”
Another former F1 driver, Ralf Schumacher, told Sky Deutschland that Hamilton has been “the biggest disappointment” of the season so far.
“Toto Wolf calls him the greatest driver of all time, but he loses to the newcomer over and over again,” he said.
“There are two options – either Russell is better or Hamilton’s car has been so good in recent years that he has compensated a lot for that.”
Schumacher also told Servus TV: “Lewis is a few years older than Russell and some say his motivation is waning, but I don’t think either is the reason.
“The fact that Russell is faster gnaws at Lewis. Russell comes in, is super-eloquent with a good demeanour and he’s driving well too.”
