F1: Toto Wolff Admits Why German GP was a Huge "Bruise" for Mercedes

The German Grand Prix turned out to be one of the most memorable of all time. It was supposed to be a grand weekend celebrating 125 years of Mercedes motorsports, where a pool of mistakes landed both Hamilton and Bottas into a pickle.

In 2019, the Formula 1 season got heated up with back-to-back race weeks and then the German Grand Prix. Fan were hoping that with Lewis Hamilton again on the top of the Driver's Championship, other drivers like Sebastian Vettel, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen could give him a run for his money.

However, it was not so easy. In this season, Hamilton with his superior car looked unstoppable. Mercedes, his team, who are the primary sponsors at this event, were backed by the majority of fans. History surrounds the circuit at Hockenheimrig and since 1926 they have hosted events between Nurburgring and AVUS Berlin.

However, things turned out differently at the 2019 race. Here's what happened!

Was there anything wrong with Mercedes?

The race started as usual with extremely good performances for the Silver Arrows, with Hamilton at the first place and Bottas striving to get the second place from Max Verstappen. Unfortunately, the moment Hamilton lost control at the penultimate Corner and his car slid down the track, it reminded viewers of the Ferrari Racer Charles Leclerc's crash during one such Grand Prix.

Unlike Leclerc, the British racer, however, tried to manage the situation and got himself out from the trouble. His car broke its front wing, resulting in a pit stop before the legal entry point. Because of this irksome situation, he got picked up for a five-second penalty and caught his team off-guard.

Cost of the Penalty

This penalty was not without its costs. It made Hamilton drop down to the fifth position and when he reached into the next pitstop, the field was clustered and a safety car was deployed which meant it was the dead-last round. In these types of races if you make a wrong call, you will have to start again. It was the same when a wrong call to switch to smooth running tyres caused him to start again. Anyway, he finished the race at P11 but eventually got promoted to P9; this was the time when Alfa Romeo was penalized for a starting offence.

The Better One!

Bottas was undoubtedly faring better than Hamilton. He was well on course for a podium finish but a mishap happened when he pushed too hard to overtake. As a result, he crashed and could not complete the race. This situation made Hockenheimreig the first point-less race of the season for the home team.

Wolff and the racers' speeches

The entire scenario was an embarrassing moment for Mercedes. That was the time of the anniversary celebration and Netflix was filming them for the first time. Wolff gave a prompt speech, saying this was not any embarrassing situation because it was motor racing and sometimes people have got to take the slap and face the situation courageously. He said that those were the time when the drivers learn and make themselves better.

Conclusion

Since the beginning of its journey, Formula 1 has certainly contributed to making car racing one of the most engaging sports in the world. However, some people find it boring because it looks like a procession of cars; however, at the end, it becomes a breath-taking game when the finish line shows up!