FEATURE
Speaking to media after the race, Hamilton explained, “I
had no idea, there were like 16 different engine positions and,
in those engine positions, like 20 positions. I had no idea what
problem I had, just low power. I didn’t do anything, it just fixed
itself.”
“It was a shame I couldn’t race, I wanted to race. If I had
been able to resolve the power situation, I might have been able
to be a part of the show and maybe catch the guys ahead. It
wasn’t to be and that is the way it is,” added the reigning world
champion
There has been a clamp down on the type of messages that
can be sent over the radio from the pit wall to a driver, which
is not proving popular or easy to police. Many pundits have
suggested that there should be a full radio ban or unlimited
communication.
When asked about the radio restrictions, Hamilton replied,
“I don’t see the benefit. The FIA have made Formula 1 so
technical. There were probably 100 different switch positions it
could have been, at least 100, 200. There was no way for me to
know, no matter how much I study that.”
Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff acknowledged, “We had
a problem on both cars with configurations of some switches.
Lewis’ problem came a bit earlier. Nico’s a couple of laps
later, and there was a way of changing the switches on the
dashboard which of course, by regulations, we are not allowed
to communicate to the drivers.”
“This caused a bit of confusion and it took a while for Lewis’
car to re-set. Nico was in a little bit of a more fortunate situation
in that he had done a switch change before.”
“Lewis was trying to figure out what it was and it took 12 laps
and then the power came back, but obviously it was too late. The
reason for the regulations is we want more unpredictability and
we don’t want the drivers being driven from the pit wall.”
“We have a driver capable of being at the very front but he
can’t figure the technology out himself so there are now two
possibilities – you teach the technology, difficult, or you look at
the regulations,” explained Wolff.