Lewis Hamilton Explains Why He Thought Toto Wolff Was ‘Smoking’ During Hungarian GP

After what turned to be one of his best F1 drives, Lewis Hamilton could only muster a P3 finish at the Hungarian GP. His chances to break into the top five were looking bleak. However, while chasing the leaders of the pack, Sebastian Vettel and Esteban Ocon, he got a call from his boss, Toto Wolff, who was confident the Briton could bring home a victory.

The seven-time world champion was quite surprised when he heard the team principal on the team radio. But Hamilton didn’t have the self-belief that Wolff had in him, as Vettel and Ocon were too far ahead to catch up with.

Hamilton was caught off guard on hearing Wolff on the team radio

The 36-year-old had overtaken Fernando Alonso on lap 63 of the race and was on his way to chasing down the two drivers who were further up the track. The Mercedes boss wholeheartedly believed that Lewis could take the win. But Hamilton wasn’t on the same page as Wolff, and didn’t he could make the gap to Vettel and Ocon.

Speaking of this incident in the post-race conference, Hamilton said, “He’s got a great heart, Toto, but with all due respect, when I got the call, I was like, I want whatever they’re smoking at the end of this race!

“Because you guys were so far ahead and I had to make another pit stop at the same time and I was like, impossible to catch you guys,” Lewis concluded.

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Lewis Hamilton takes regains the lead in the championship

The seven-time world champion was hoping for another victory to retake the championship lead from Max Verstappen but had to settle for a third-place finish at the Hungaroring. However, he later inherited second place, as Vettel has been disqualified.

This saw the Knight pick up eighteen points, and take the top spot in the drivers’ standings. This meant that Max Verstappen had been pushed down to second place in the title race, but only an eight-point gap exists between the two.

With the summer break on, Hamilton will have to wait for the Belgium GP at Spa to further extend his lead against the Dutch driver. And Verstappen will look regain his energy during the break so he can bounce back and close the gap to his arch-rival.

Read More: WATCH: Hamilton Shares a Classy Message to Vettel After His Heartbreaking F1 Disqualification at Hungary