2021 Italian GP : Post-Race comments from Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff

Mercedes had a mixed 2021 Italian Grand prix on Sunday at Monza. Pole sitter Valtteri Bottas comes home in P3 to cinch podium after starting the race at back of the grid.

mean while seven time World champion had a first DNF in 66 races as he collided with his championship rival Max Verstappen on lap 25.

Stewards deemed the clash was Red Bull man’s fault and handed him three place grid drop penalty to him for next race at Russia.

Mercedes increased their championship lead over Red Bull in the constructors battle to 18 points at the top of the table. Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team (362.5 points) and Red Bull (344.5 points) will take constructor title battle to the end of the season.

Max Verstappen (226.5 points) leads the Drivers’ Championship from Lewis (221.5) by five points and with Valtteri in P3 (141 points).

Lewis Hamilton (DNF)

“Obviously disappointing for me to end the race in the manner that it did. I though the Team did a great job with the strategy, and we were in a good position until that collision on Lap 26.

From what I remember, after I came out of the pits, I saw Max coming and I made sure I left a car’s width on the outside for him. I went into Turn 1 and I was ahead, and I was ahead going into Turn 2, and then all of a sudden, he was on top of me.

All in all, not a great end to the weekend for me but it was good to see that Valtteri carried the Team with his amazing recovery drive. Coming from the back all the way to the podium on a track like this is not easy. The Team did a great job and coming away with more points than Red Bull is definitely positive.”

Valtteri Bottas (P3)

“I told the Team that I was going to be on the Podium today so I am glad we did. A great recovery from me, I don’t think I’ve made up that many places in a race in my career. Starting from the back is never easy, and in the end, I am glad we got more points than Red Bull today, especially considering where we were before the race.

It was enjoyable out there, some good overtakes and some good racing. The battle with Perez was a good one and I am very happy with my result. Probably one of my better weekends with Mercedes, I think I was strong all weekend so that is very satisfying.

Obviously, it is a shame about the crash with Lewis and Max – we lost some important points there. I haven’t really seen the incident properly yet but I am glad to hear he is ok. Now we need to look ahead and I hope to carry this momentum into Russia, a track where I’ve done well in the past.”

Toto Wolff, Team Principal

“Another mixed afternoon for us. On the one hand, Valtteri did an incredible job coming from P20 and getting a podium for the Team. He has been on top form this weekend and P3 from back of the grid is thoroughly deserved after his performance all weekend.

On the other hand, the incident with Max was really unfortunate for Lewis, as he seemed to be in a great position after his stop. If you compare it to Lewis at turn four on lap one, where he backed out, I think it was clear for Max that his positioning would end in a crash. The stewards have made their decision but it is clear that, without the halo this could have been much worse.”

Andrew Shovlin, Head of Track side operations :

“It was a great drive by Valtteri today to get back to the podium; such a shame that we had to take a penalty with him as a weekend like the one he put together would normally be rewarded with a win.

It’s sad that Lewis’s race had to end the way it did but a relief that he had the extra protection of the Halo today otherwise it would have been very nasty. Max was never going to make the corner but it seems like he will always choose to force the issue rather than concede a position to Lewis.

It’s frustrating to have had a car that was so quick and leave here with so few points but the reality is that there are many areas where we need to perform better. Valtteri can be proud of what he did but as a team we’ve got to be critical of ourselves in a number of areas of performance and reliability, we’ve not been at the level we need so fixing that has to be our priority right now.”