Home News Wolff: Two loose screws lead to Hamilton Brazil DSQ

Release Date: November 20, 2021-Michelle Foster

Toto Wolff said the "two screws" were the culprit for Lewis Hamilton's DSQ qualifying in Brazil because they became loose during the game.

Hamilton qualified the fastest in Friday's qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, but was submitted to the butler for alleged technical violations.

FIA Technical Representative Joe Bauer stated in his report that Hamilton's DRS flap opening is larger than the allowable 85 mm.

While investigating the matter, the rear wing assembly of his W12 was dismantled and seized, and Mercedes was not allowed to inspect it at the time.

The Englishman was later disqualified from the result and was forced to start Saturday's sprint qualifying from behind the grid.

Wolfe said at the time that Hamilton's wing had failed "0.2mm" in the test, and the Mercedes Motorsport boss insisted that something went wrong.

The inspector was able to pass an 85mm ball through Hamilton's wing with the DRS turned on! 😳🔍#f1 #formula1 #BrazilianGP 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/48hLVBPNpd

— Julian Pluym (@julianpluym1) November 13, 2021

The wing was eventually returned to Mercedes, and Wolfe revealed that two loose screws caused the drama.

"We took the tail back, and as we thought it was broken," he said. "It broke out in qualifying.

"We did not pass the 85mm slot gap test on the far right. We passed it on the left and the center, but did not exceed one millimeter in the center, which is good.

"We were not allowed to inspect it, nor could we make the argument that the parts were damaged, so we found that two screws were loose in qualifying, which caused an irregularity on the right side.

"You know it might even be bad for lap time, but it's true.

"It has been reported to the administrator, which is very different from the way these things were handled in the past. In the past you could repair things that were damaged during the parc ferme, but we have moved on."

Hamilton fought back from his P20 grid and finished the sprint qualifying fifth place.

This means that he is in the P10 position on the grid of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, this is because the engine was fined five places, and the defending world champion sprinted to win the title for the second time in so many days.

He won the Grand Prix 10 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, reducing his gap in the championship to 14 points.

"The game is over," Wolfe said. "We can obviously turn things around.

"I hope Lewis can get more points from the sprint qualifying, but that is already a thing of the past.

"I think the rules have been reset to some extent, and we will do our best for the current Grand Prix and the next Grand Prix."