Mercedes admitted they were surprised Lewis Hamilton’s car wasn’t damaged by his collision with Max Verstappen during the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The pair tangled on the 63rd lap of the race when Verstappen attempted to overtake Hamilton on the inside at turn one. His left-rear wheel rode over Hamilton’s right-front, pitching the Red Bull up into the air.Both drivers were able to finish the race. Verstappen had to be inspected by the FIA Medical Delegate afterwards due to the severity of the impact when his car hit the ground.
Mercedes technical director James Allison admitted they thought Hamilton’s car would have picked up some damage from the contact.
“When we saw it happen – as, I guess, same for everyone watching it around the world – it was such a dramatic collision that it seemed highly unlikely to imagine that both cars were going to escape unscathed,” said Allison in a video released by the team. “But in our case, the car was was completely unscathed.
“Lewis was able to proceed to the flag without really any detriment on his performance. So it’s a tribute, I guess, to how strongly we design it these days. But also, a good slab of good fortune in there as well, because it wouldn’t have taken much more than that, I think, to have swiped the corner off the car.”
Allison also shed light on the circumstances which led to George Russell being eliminated in the first round of qualifying for the second year in a row at the Hungaroring, as he had to pit to avoid running out of fuel. He said the team failed to ensure he did slow laps between quick runs as the track dried, which would have reduced his fuel consumption.
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“Our Q1 for George was a mess,” Allison admitted. “Some part of it was mistakes made by George, but the majority, the centre of gravity of the mistakes, were mistakes that the team made.
“The definitive thing came in the second run. The second run was on a track which at that stage was drying and sadly, George, through a series of miscommunications between us and him, ended up, instead of doing a fast [lap] and [then] a slow lap and then a fast – for the best he could make of a situation that was difficult that we’d put him in – he chose to do a fast and then a consecutive fast.
“[This meant] that by the time he got to his last lap, which was already one lap sooner than we would have done if we put the right amount of fuel in the car, the tyres weren’t at their best and he wasn’t able to improve and and he got knocked out. A very disappointing thing for George and something that we’re very sorry for our part in.”
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2024 Hungarian Grand Prix
- Verstappen names Hungarian GP the most stressful moment of his title-winning year
- McLaren team orders “a new situation we’re inexperienced at handling” – Piastri
- Verstappen dismisses critics of “vocal” radio messages and late-night simracing
- Norris’ former McLaren team mates say he was right to give up win
- Mercedes surprised Hamilton’s car was “completely unscathed” in Verstappen clash
Retired (@jeff1s)
24th July 2024, 21:52
I feel ashamed to conclude that a Pirelli tyre is stronger than a Formula 1 monocoque these days.
grat
25th July 2024, 15:11
It’s a totally different strength. One is heavy, flexible rubber, one is lightweight, but brittle, carbon fiber.
DaveW (@dmw)
24th July 2024, 22:30
Basically it was all Russell is what’s he’s saying. He could have said mistakes were made and left it at that.
I was also amazed that Hamiltons suspension survived that blow. Maybe the saving grace was that Verstappen was completely locked up so there was less total torque applied at the point of contact. That also may have saved Verstappen from being launched into a flip.
Doh
24th July 2024, 23:56
Interesting point about the locked up wheels perhaps reduced the intensity of the impact.
I find it equally remarkable that verstappan manages to crash into people or make contact while usually being in the wrong, and almost always make it out without any really penalty, regardless of if it’s from the stewards or his own er. Of course he has before bahrain 2018 Monaco 2016) but remarkably it’s rare.
MacLeod (@macleod)
25th July 2024, 7:40
And the contact was just a tad of tyre so for Lewis his car was like a glancing hit on a wall (Max rear wheel was the wall)
Jere (@jerejj)
25th July 2024, 7:13
So contact doesn’t always lead to damage, after all, even though usually even the smallest of touch causes performance-affecting damage.
Mayrton
25th July 2024, 10:41
No verbal diarrhea from Toto? Must be having talks with Max then.
MadMax (@madmax)
25th July 2024, 14:49
nothing but stupid hate
David BR (@david-br)
25th July 2024, 18:39
After Max’s Sunday Diatribe from Hell (on the radio) that’s quite some one-way observation.
You’ve left me imagining a team with Russell and Verstappen bossed by Wolff. Would be quite a mixture.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
25th July 2024, 12:17
its pretty obvious, the rear of Max’s car was light, and the front of HAM’s car was heavy, over his wheel he went, and a great punt. Not quite making up for Max intentionally crashing, & almost killing HAM at Monza the while back, but it’s definitely a good look.
Mayrton
25th July 2024, 12:52
Yeah, leaving the door open in the right hander allowing a car to come alongside and then expecting that car on your left to suddenly disappear in the subsequent left hander is quite normal.
MadMax (@madmax)
25th July 2024, 14:53
yep, cars alongside seldom disappear (see Silverstone). In Monza there was only a car outside of any line to make the second turn, which went off onto a sausage curb, just to on-purpose crash out the opponent. Stewards decided correctly about who was to blame, only the penalty was too lenient.
Steve (@scbriml)
25th July 2024, 19:27
If the car on the inside had been under control, then they would have both made it round the corner without contact. There was more than enough room.
SteveR (@stever)
25th July 2024, 14:14
That’s not how it works. Think about the rotational direction of the tires; if a wheel touches another rotating wheel from behind the forward wheel is rotating up and the approaching wheel is rotating down. When they touch the rear wheel climbs with essentially twice the rotational speed and is launched into the air. Difficult to explain, but easy to see if you take a couple of round objects and rotate them together.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
26th July 2024, 1:45
thats one of the reasons it climbed over so aggressively, but for the reason why Lewis’ suspension didn’t snap and why he hopped over it was because the downforce on Lewis front right was far greater than the downforce on Max’s rear left. Downforce = weight, its like Judo, if you can lower your center of mass, its very easy to flip someone over you.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
26th July 2024, 1:49
and hence, all that energy and inertia, instead of breaking the suspension pushed Max’s car up and pop. kinda like pool too, its all about angular momentum. But yes, the tires spinning did help change the angle at which Max’s rear left was moving, as well as put more weight on the opposite side of Max’s car.
FlyingLap (@flyinglapp)
25th July 2024, 16:28
Lewis’s car was undamaged? Max must be losing his touch.
SteveP
26th July 2024, 11:30
Walk-in visit. Purely a precautionary, no injuries detected despite use of high spec scanning kit.
The opponent had been informed that he was fine long before the end of the race, in fact before the race restarted.
BTW. number substitution in the word murder doesn’t deflect from potential legal action against you, or the site your comment is published on.