Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff admits that tensions in the battle with Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari are beginning to ramp up, with their on-track clash in Baku further stoking the fire.
After the race, Lewis Hamilton criticized his rival and questioned the scale of the penalty he received for hitting the Mercedes driver while under the safety car.
“Now we have a situation where we have more controversy, and it was always clear that this could happen more the closer it gets,” said Wolff “I think fundamentally the respect is there. They are two greats of their sport. Today's events certainly didn't help the relationship going forward.
“They're warriors. You are at war at that moment. They're fighting for the race win and for a championship. You are in there, and you don't want to miss out on the safety car restart. His perspective, which was subjective and wrong in that instance, was that he was being brake tested. But he wasn't being brake tested. But he's an emotional guy. The consequence we have seen.
“Lewis didn't do anything wrong, we've seen it on the data. He's absolutely fine. Then we just need to be mindful that there are millions of people watching and many aspiring young racing drivers and whatever we do on track is going to be an example.
“The sport needs the rivalry and I think what we've seen today has the ingredient of a great championship. At a certain stage, the best ones that compete for world championships can't be friends. Maybe we've seen the limitation of the respect today.”
Wolff conceded that the battle with Ferrari is becoming more intense.
“Normally I get a breakfast at Ferrari on Sunday morning. Today I only had tea. Of course, we have great respect for Ferrari but it's fantastic company and great brand and there are so many passionate people at Ferrari and in Italy they cheer for Ferrari. But for me, the analogy is with rugby.
“During the race they are our enemies and they wouldn't take any prisoners. We must be capable, when the race is done, of having a beer like rugby players and acknowledging somebody's performance and acknowledge that we are all warriors and fierce competitors out there. Nevertheless, we are racing on a giant platform that somehow unites us.”
He also had a word for Valtteri Bottas, who drove a superb race from last place to second.
“Valtteri's day was unbelievable. Turn 2 was unfortunate, he just bounced off the curb. And then one and a half laps behind, we knew that the only chance of having a decent race was with a safety car. Then ending up P2 was, for me, just a miracle of the sport - equal to Daniel being P17 and then finishing first, Lance P3. People want variability and unpredictability. I think you would have earned lots of money if you'd bet on that result.”
