“Need to Take Max Out of the Equation”: Instead of Solving Lewis Hamilton’s Burning Issues, Toto Wolff Focuses on Pulling Down Verstappen

The Belgian GP was a good race weekend for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. Or so we thought. Despite his P4 finish and George Russell’s P6, the weekend brought to light a myriad of burning issues with the W14 that only added to its concerns going into the summer break. With Mercedes’ erratic performances this season, the Brackley outfit has nearly zero direction on where it wants its development to go. And with its porpoising issues returning in Spa, matters for Hamilton & Co. keep worsening. But Team Principal Toto Wolff seems to have a solution.

Since the start of the season, Red Bull has been everyone’s target. But over the past several weekends, the equation has changed. It’s not Red Bull everyone’s catching. It’s Max Verstappen. While he finished 22 seconds ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez at Spa, had it not been for his penultimate lap pit stop for the fastest lap, Hamilton would’ve finished roughly only 10 seconds behind the Mexican. So while discussing Mercedes’ situation compared to Red Bull after the race, Wolff said, as quoted by motorsport.nextgen-auto.com, “I think if you just put Perez in the equation, we’re in the game.”

The Austrian continued, “We seem to be following similar development paths, but there’s only one car that’s faster today. It was a second and a half faster per lap when Max was pushing at the start of the race, so you have to get on with it. You just need to take Max out of the equation. The second Red Bull is where we are. Without Verstappen, it would be a fantastic season and close racing.”

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Wolff didn’t say this to demean Perez; instead, he said it to appreciate Verstappen’s dominance. And like Wolff said, Mercedes has already caught up to Perez’s Red Bull. And as per Wolff, it has no choice but to catch Verstappen too. While Wolff suggested taking Verstappen out of the equation, Lewis Hamilton suggested a different approach.

Lewis Hamilton wants what Sergio Perez has

After another dominant showing by Max Verstappen at the Belgian GP, Lewis Hamilton was asked about the Dutchman’s state of mind. As quoted by dailymail.co.uk, he replied, “He is having a smoke and a pancake,” meaning that he’s demolishing the field like it’s just a walk in the park. He’s doing it without caring more than he has to. But Hamilton had a suggestion as to how Verstappen could have a more challenging time this season.

In another post-race interview, Hamilton said, “Do I want to be as fast as [Verstappen]? Of course. Would I like to have a car that’s as fast as him? Of course. If I would be in Sergio’s car, Max would not be having the same time he’s having now.” Everyone knows how fast a driver Hamilton is and how hard a time he gave Verstappen in 2021. So if he does take Perez out of the equation by replacing him with himself, he believes he could give Verstappen a run for his money.

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Would you want to see Lewis Hamilton in a Red Bull, or would you rather have Max Verstappen step out of it?