Toto Wolff apologises to Lewis Hamilton for “idiotic mistake” | “We totally let him down”

Toto Wolff has issued an apology to Lewis Hamilton following his shock Q1 exit at the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, admitting “we totally let him down”.

Hamilton was knocked out in Q1 after running over a bollard in the final sector of his lap at the Yas Marina Circuit.

The seven-time world champion was unfortunate to get the bollard stuck under his car after it was put on the circuit by Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.

Without it, it’s likely Hamilton would have made it into Q2 in his final race with Mercedes, but it wasn’t plain sailing before that.

Hamilton narrowly crossed the start-finish line in time, with traffic a problem for both Mercedes drivers, meaning he started his final Q1 with his tyres not quite up to temperature.

Wolff was understandably angry after qualifying in Abu Dhabi, describing Mercedes’ error as “idiotic” and “inexcusable”.

“I just need to apologise to Lewis,” Wolff said on Sky Sports. “Also to everyone in the team that worked so hard in making it a great end for him.

“He was the quicker guy with the setup we chose on the car to experiment for next year. We totally let him down. Idiotic mistake of not going earlier.

“Inexcusable, inexcusable. I’ve rarely been so down about what has happened.

“Maybe it summarises the last races we’ve had with him but this is the worst part of it because it was just idiotic.”

‘It doesn’t ruin the Hamilton-Mercedes legacy’

Hamilton will bow out of Mercedes at the end of Sunday’s race ahead of his switch to Ferrari in 2025.

The Hamilton-Mercedes combination is the most successful in the sport’s history.

The 39-year-old has won six of his seven titles with the Brackley-based outfit, taking over 80 victories.

Wolff was keen to point out that it doesn’t “ruin the legacy we had with him” but it was a sad end to their time together.

“I think we were lucky that both of them wrestled their way through the other traffic,” Wolff added.

“Maybe without the bollard it would have worked. You don’t risk so much in a Q1 where we easily had the pace to make it out there.

“Our most valuable racing driver ever, the most valuable greatest driver of this sport, gets out in Q1 because we make a mistake. It doesn’t ruin the legacy we had with him but I can only say sorry to him.”