Mercedes truly have had a target on their backs recently. The Silver Arrows were the dominant force up until Red Bull decided to show up in 2021 and spoil the party. Ever since the team from Brackley has been on the back foot. Naturally, lagging in pace, the drivers will employ somewhat aggressive maneuvers to get the job done. But as long as things are within the rule-book, there’s no need to worry. That being said, Lewis Hamilton has been on the receiving end of some criticism recently for his overtaking exploits.

Last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix will go down in the history books for many things. However, one standout moment from the race was the lap 1 move Hamilton made on Max Verstappen into turn 3. In the aftermath of the race, even though Verstappen came out to eventually be victorious, the 2x champion accused the 7x champion of some dirty driving. Hamilton did defend himself afterwards, but now, his boss, Toto Wolff has jumped into the fray.

Toto Wolff strongly defends Lewis Hamilton

In the aftermath of both Christian Horner and Verstappen calling the 38-year-old out, Wolff has decided to aggressively lash out. He was quoted by Motorsport.com as saying, “We’ve had a lot of discussions about the race rules in the past, but I don’t think anything wrong has been done here, as some say.”

He then went on to put Mercedes’s situation in perspective. “The straight-line advantage they have with DRS on is really incredible. But that’s the way this series is, if they have such a fast car on the straight because they’re doing things right, then it’s up to us to figure out the reason and find the tools to improve the performance. Performance on a straight line.”

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Whatever Wolff has to say, Horner has a response to it.

Christian Horner points out Hamilton’s mistake

Horner has been taking shots at both Hamilton and George Russell. But Horner has recently decided to take a jab at the 7x champion for an apparent mistake that led to Hamilton missing out on that elusive victory.

Talking about the way Hamilton was passed by Verstappen after that epic dive, he said, “First of all, I think Lewis made a mistake on that lap. Moreover, we had completely set up the car for the race. Maybe Hamilton heated up his tires a little too aggressively, so he suffered a bit more in the race,” as quoted by Express UK.

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Was Lewis Hamilton really at fault during the Australian GP?