“Nobody does that on purpose” - Toto Wolff defends Lewis Hamilton after coming together with Lance Stroll during Spanish GP FP3

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff defended Lewis Hamilton after he shared an incident with Lance Stroll. This happened during the third free practice session of the 2024 F1 Spanish Grand Prix.

During the session, Hamilton seemingly impeded Stroll, who was on a fast lap. According to the rules, the former was to get himself off of the racing line and give Stroll the space to go. However, the Brit claimed that he wasn't able to see him. Right after that, Stroll went wide away from the apex of the corner and almost pushed the Mercedes out of the track.

Reviewing this incident, Wolff defended Lewis Hamilton, saying that no driver does it on purpose because there is always a chance of gaining a time penalty. He also mentioned that the driver should not be blamed since the team is responsible for updating them on the traffic.

"Yeah, you know, I can understand in the heat of the moment sometimes you're on your fast lap and you're being blocked. But it's never the driver's fault. You know, we're getting the instructions from the garage about the traffic situation," Wolff told Sky Sports.

"And nobody does that on purpose because you know, you can have a penalty. So I guess on this one, maybe the penalty goes the other way around," he added.

---

Lance Stroll admits turning into Lewis Hamilton intentionally

After the end of the session, Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll was reprimanded by the stewards for the incident he shared with Mercedes.

In the statement shared by the FIA, they revealed that Stroll intentionally turned into Hamilton because he was "upset" after the latter impeded him. The statement further noted that Stroll wanted to "express his displeasure" to Mercedes.

The statement noted:

"The driver of Car 18 stated that he got impeded by Car 44 into Turn 5 and that upset him. He admitted that he wanted to express his displeasure to the other driver by pulling over on him at the exit."

The stewards only reprimanded stroll because while his driving style was "erratic" it was not deemed dangerous.

Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, walked away from the unscathed and without any penalty. He is set to start the Spanish Grand Prix from the second row after qualifying in P3. This is an impressive stint for Mercedes, given their performance early in the season. His teammate George Russell qualified right behind him in P4.