"This time they followed the rules"- Mercedes boss takes a jibe over FIA after controversial end to 2022 F1 Italian GP

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff aimed shots at the FIA for letting the race end under the safety car at the 2022 F1 Italian GP. The safety car was brought out with six laps left from the end to cater to Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren. However, contrary to the 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP where we had a last-lap shootout, this time around the stewards let the race finish under the safety car.

Wolff revealed that he felt it was the right thing to do but also took a jibe at the FIA for 'following the rules this time'. He said,

“The race direction will be under critics, but this time they followed the rules. Maybe they could have done it a lap earlier or let George [Russell] through, but at least they followed the rules and they accepted the race ends under the Safety Car and this is how it should be, or shouldn’t have been.”

Talking about the race and how it panned out, the Mercedes boss was relatively satisfied as he felt that finishing at P3 and P5 was the best possible result in the third fastest car on the grid. He said,

"We were clearly the third fastest team today, so third and fifth positions was probably the maximum we could expect. Although the gaps were not as big as in Spa, this was clearly a track that didn't suit us, so it was a question of maximising our result and doing damage limitation with Lewis. It was enjoyable to watch him fight through the pack - he looked a little bit stuck at the beginning, then once the tyres came together, he was very quick."

Talking about Mercedes driver George Russell, Toto Wolff said:

"As for George, he did everything we asked of him, and it was another faultless drive. Looking at the championship, we are 35 points behind with six races to go and we just need to do our best every single week and see where we land after Abu Dhabi."

The Mercedes boss not the only one miffed at the handling of the race by the FIA

The Mercedes boss was not the only one who was a bit upset at how the ending of the race was handled by the FIA. Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto also felt that the ending left a lot to be desired and even claimed that FIA didn't know what to do in that situation. He said:

“We don’t know how it would have ended, but it’s a shame. There were conditions to start the race a little earlier. There was no reason to wait. Today, the FIA was caught sleeping; maybe they are not ready to deal with these situations."

It does remain to be seen how the FIA handles these situations in the future, whether it goes through with races ending under safety cars or the other way around.

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