Toto Wolff: Mercedes boss says Abu Dhabi gave the FIA confidence to keep away from Italian GP ‘huge bang present’

“From my perspective, whether I’m Abu Dhabi traumatised or not, these rules have been followed to the dot,” says Toto Wolff, whose feedback are in distinction to his Red Bull and Ferrari counterparts after the Italian GP Safety Car end

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has hinted at being “Abu Dhabi traumatised” however says he’s completely happy that final yr’s controversial F1 title decider at the very least gave the FIA confidence to make the fitting selections on the Italian GP.

Sunday’s race at Monza noticed a Safety Car referred to as late on however, in contrast to the Abu Dhabi GP final yr when Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton on the ultimate lap, the motion didn’t restart and completed beneath these circumstances.

There had been boos from the grandstands and criticism from many – together with the Red Bull and Ferrari bosses – however Wolff praised the dealing with of the closing levels, and aimed a not-so-sly dig at ex-race director Michael Masi.

“I’m really satisfied to see that there is a race director and colleagues that apply the regulations against the pressure of the media and the fans to just be in breach of the regulations,” mentioned the Mercedes group principal.

“So at least Abu Dhabi in that sense gave the FIA more robust confidence to apply the regulations.”

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Lewis Hamilton says the ending to the Italian GP introduced again reminiscences of his title decider with Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi in 2021

Wolff’s feedback adopted Hamilton, the wronged occasion final yr in Abu Dhabi, saying the Monza finale introduced “memories back” and that there’s “only one time in the history of the sport where they haven’t done the rules like that today and that’s the one where it changed the result”.

Wolff, like his star driver, was adamant all the things had been performed by the guide on Sunday, as automobiles weren’t again in place shortly sufficient for a inexperienced gentle after a delay in Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren being recovered.

“There’s rules and they’re written down,” said Wolff. “From my perspective, whether I’m Abu Dhabi traumatised or not, these rules have been followed to the dot.

“There was a automotive on monitor, there have been marshals, a crane on the market, that is why they did not let anyone overtake after which there wasn’t sufficient time to restart the race as soon as all automobiles caught up.

“If one is not happy with the regulations and you want to have a big bang show and two laps of racing and mayhem, I’m absolutely up for it. But then we need to change the regulations.

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Sky F1’s Karun Chandhok explains why the Italian Grand Prix ended behind the Safety Car and the options available to the FIA in situations like these

“So I do not assume we have to complain about something that occurred as a result of that is the foundations.”

Wolff continued: “I do not wish to create a headline saying, ‘Toto desires to alter the rules as a result of the racing is ****’.

“I think we should all sit down and say ‘is there something we do better?’, but what happened is in the regulations book and that’s why it was applied.”

There have been solutions that F1 ought to change its guidelines on Safety Car finishes, with Sunday the thirteenth time within the sport’s historical past {that a} winner has crossed the chequered flag in these circumstances.

Wolff has provided his options

“We should think, do we want to have a race finish under green, and then reverse engineer it from there.

“So you possibly can say 5 or 10 laps from the tip we’ve got a Safety Car, let’s purple flag it – and ensure we’re racing on the finish.

“If that’s in the regulations, then good.”

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Christian Horner admits they’d have most popular Verstappen to win the race beneath regular racing rules, quite than behind the Safety Car

Red Bull and Ferrari’s differing views on Safety Car end

Christian Horner, Red Bull boss: “We don’t want to win a race under a Safety Car. It’s something we’ve talked about for many, many years, that they should finish racing.

“There was sufficient time to get that race going. I feel they picked up the improper automobiles, picked up (George) Russell.

“We had the faster car and we would have liked to win the race on the track, not behind the Safety Car. We share the disappointment of all the fans, because it took away a grandstand finish.

“It goes in opposition to the rules of what we have mentioned beforehand. The greatest losers had been the followers.”

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Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto was unhappy with the FIA’s implementation of the Safety Car regulations in the final stages of the race

Mattia Binotto, Ferrari boss: “Finishing behind a Safety Car is rarely nice, not for us, however F1 and the present. I feel there was time for the FIA to behave otherwise right now.

“The Safety Car came in front of George but even so, I think there was no reason not to release the cars between the Safety Car and the leader. If we are simply waiting for safety, we know that now there’s a minimum lap time, so it’s fully safe to run.

“To wait a lot, it is merely improper and never nice for the game. After Abu Dhabi final yr, we had lengthy discussions with the game as a result of the ultimate goal is to attempt to restart the race in a protected method, and I feel right now we may have.

“The FIA changed a lot in that area, but still I think they need more experience and they need to do a better job, because F1 deserves it.”