Carlos Sainz’s penalty and the damage incurred on the car have spurred a lot of discussions within the paddock. Many drivers, team principals, and even fans have voiced their opinions on the eight-minute Free Practice 1 session on Thursday. Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, deemed this incident to be a non-issue. He stated that incidents like these have happened before and that the whole situation is blowing out of proportion.

However, not everyone sees it the same. Starting from Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur to drivers like Daniel Ricciardo, everyone has criticized the preparations ahead of the GP. Many believe that the focus was more on the show, rather than the driver’s safety, creating a lot of unrest in the paddock. Max Verstappen recently became the latest to criticize Sin City’s safety measures, as he comes in defense of the Spanish superstar.

Max Verstappen thrashes Toto Wolff’s hypocrisy

Max Verstappen, on the pre-qualifying interview with Viaplay, outright disagreed with Toto Wolff’s take on the subject. When asked his opinion on “Toto Wolff said it wasn’t that bad, and that we’ve had lose drain covers before,” the Red Bull driver didn’t spare words. “That is true of course. It happened before. But you’ve to learn from that.” Especially, he notes, on street circuits, it is essential to be prepared.

He then called out Toto Wolff’s hypocrisy, hypothesizing that if it were his car, he’d have reacted differently. “I think if it was his car, he’d have spoken very differently. But I don’t expect anything less from him.”

He stated that if he had been in Ferrari’s position, he’d also be mad as well. He then highlighted the safety issues this brings to the drivers. “We’d have been angry too, just like Ferrari. The entire car is f*cked. Carlos also said he couldn’t feel his leg for a few seconds. The accident could have been way worse.”

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The Austrian, on the other hand, focused more on what this race means in the bigger picture. During the post-practice interview, he made his thoughts on the matter very clear.

Toto Wolff’s firm stance

The Mercedes Team principal, as mentioned earlier, felt that the incidence was a little too overblown at this point. He feels that there’s a lot of complaining and criticizing going on, instead of appreciation for the show that Liberty Media has put on in Las Vegas.

“That is not a black eye,” Wolff said. “This is nothing! Give credit to the people that have set up this Grand Prix, that have made this sport much bigger than it ever was. Liberty has done an awesome job and just because in FP1 a drain cover has become undone, we shouldn’t be moaning.”

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While it is true that the hype and prestige of racing down the Las Vegas strip is undeniably high, safety should be absolutely paramount. What do you think of this? Let us know down below.