“Rules are rules” - Toto Wolff vows Mercedes have ‘learned’ from Lewis Hamilton DSQ

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is confident his team will not fall foul of the FIA’s strict technical regulations again after Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from the United States Grand Prix.

Hamilton was excluded from the final results in Austin after the plank underneath his car had worn too much.

As it didn’t meet the FIA’s stringent rules, he – and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc – were disqualified.

The disqualification aside, it was Hamilton and Mercedes’ strongest weekend of the year, with the seven-time world champion finishing just two-seconds behind eventual race winner Max Verstappen.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, Wolff reflected on the events in Austin and conceded they were ‘caught out’.

“Austin was a weekend of mixed feelings,” he said. “The positives are that the upgrade looks to have given us a step forward in terms of performance. Our pace was strong all weekend and it was encouraging to be in the fight for victory.

“The negative was of course failing to capitalise on our pace with the result. Losing a podium finish hurts and is not a position we want to find ourselves in.

“The complexities of a sprint weekend and a bumpy circuit caught us out. But rules are rules. We will learn from this and improve. Now we move on to the next race.”

Mercedes enjoyed one of their strongest weekends of the year in 2022 at the Mexican circuit.

The high altitude poses an additional challenge to the teams, particularly as they are forced to run high downforce even though the large rear wings only produce Monza levels of downforce due to the thin air.

“Mexico is always an exciting weekend,” he added. “The fans are super passionate and energetic. The venue also presents a unique challenge with the high altitude. It has a major impact on how we operate the car, and it is always a challenge to find the optimum solution.

“It will also be a good test of our upgrade package; seeing how it performs at a circuit with very different characteristics. That will be useful for our continued learning and development for W15.”