Hamilton had ‘half of his left diffuser ripped off’ in clash – Wolff

Toto Wolff says he was thrilled to see Lewis Hamilton recover from losing half of his left diffuser to fight back to ninth place during the Mexican Grand Prix while also sealing a historic fourth Formula 1 world title.

The Mercedes team principal says he “hated every bit of the race” in Mexico after seeing Hamilton involved in the first-lap collision with Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel in which he sustained damage to his diffuser and a puncture. After limping back to the pits he re-joined the action in last place, and was lapped by Verstappen later on, he battled through the pack to finish ninth.

Despite the result being non-consequential to the F1 world title as Vettel needed to finish in the top two but damage he sustained in the first lap clash saw him only finish fourth, Wolff was delighted to see Hamilton seal the title with two races to spare in Mexico while battling back with a damaged car.

“Almost half of his left diffuser was ripped off. We lost a lot of performance and the car was badly damaged,” Wolff said. “I think the situation Lewis found himself in where he had the opportunity and Sebastian had a bit of a moment there and then crashed into Lewis and finished his race and finished Lewis’ race.”