Radio silence from Lewis Hamilton as Toto Wolff reacts to ‘worst race’ claim

Lewis Hamilton did not offer an immediate response to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff after the Canadian Grand Prix, when he was spoken to over team radio.

Hamilton had just finished fourth in the race, having been passed late on by team-mate George Russell, who claimed the final podium spot on Sunday, but Wolff explained the race should be viewed as a positive one for both drivers.

Toto Wolff: ‘P3 and P4 is much better than what we had in the last few races’

In a clip that was posted on Formula 1’s official social media accounts of Hamilton pulling into parc fermé, Wolff took to team radio to tell the seven-time World Champion: “Lewis, the positive is the car is back in performance and we get on from here.”

The rest of the short video showed Hamilton sitting behind the wheel not responding to his team boss, with the Mercedes driver explaining afterward that he felt it was one of his worst races in Formula 1, due to the amount of errors he believed he made during the Canadian Grand Prix.

“It was just over the weekend a really poor performance from myself,” Hamilton told Sky F1 after the race.

“Some other things came into it yesterday, but mostly myself and today just one of the worst races that I’ve driven. Just lots of mistakes. Of course, if I’d qualified better, I would have been in a much better position. So it is what it is. I will go back to the drawing board.

“On a positive note, big big thanks to everyone back at the factory for progressing this car, because it is becoming a car we can fight with. That’s the real positive going into this next part of the season.

“I know we have hopefully some more upgrades coming, they’re on the way, so it’s going to be a close battle and if I get my head on right, I’ll get better results.”

It’s radio silence from a disappointed Lewis in Canada ?️❌#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/eOG9mBnWHq

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 10, 2024

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Both Hamilton and Russell felt they did not make the most of their races, with Russell having started from pole and Hamilton having been looking for a way onto the podium on Sunday.

When Wolff was asked about both drivers’ self-criticism after the race, he felt that they should actually look at the weekend a different way – though he also understands why there is a “negative sentiment” on their part.

“I think when you finish third and fourth where have we have been coming from, then it’s a positive race,” Wolff told reporters in Canada after the chequered flag.

“Three and four is much better than what we had in the last few races, so that’s good, but I think both drivers saw that more was up.

“We could have maybe gained a position or two and that’s why there is a kind of negative sentiment that prevails, but if you would have given them third and fourth before the weekend, probably they would have taken it.”

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