Toto Wolff email to FIA at British Grand Prix was based on Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg

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Toto Wolff’s email that he sent to the FIA during the controversial British Grand Prix at Silverstone was in fact about Lewis Hamilton and former team-mate Nico Rosberg.  Motorsport-Total.com reports that the document sent by the Mercedes team principal was not an official document as had been previously suggested.

According to the World Automobile Federation, the diagram “was never an official FIA document” and that it was never published as such and circulated to use as an official guideline.

The email focused on an incident back in 2015 between the seven-time Formula One champ and the 2016 champion, which caused tensions to escalate within the Mercedes team.

After the incident, Mercedes approached the FIA and asked how the stewards deal with wheel-to-wheel duels on the track.

In response, the team received a diagram, the same one Toto sent to the FIA after the collision between Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on lap one of the 2021 British Grand Prix.

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It has been revealed that the illustration was informal information sent only to Mercedes to help with their query.

Michael Masi, who has been the FIA Formula One Race Director since 2019, did not know where the diagram came from and wondered why it would be used to help make decisions as it is not an official document.

Mercedes defended Hamilton’s maneuver during the race and stated he was “in line with the FIA’s overtaking guidelines.”

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They said: “Lewis’ maneuver was absolutely in line with the FIA’s overtaking guidelines. If you overtake inside, the guideline requires that you are clearly next to the other car.

“It is not necessary to be in front, you have to be at the corner entrance and be clearly off. And Lewis was definitely off. His front axle was way ahead of the center of Verstappen’s car. “

Head of Technology at Mercedes James Allison added that the driver overtaking must make the corner cleanly and that point was also included in Mercedes’ diagram.

He explained: “You have to make the curve and you mustn’t leave the track or lose control of the car. That has to be fulfilled.

“If you can take the corner and if you are clearly next to the other car, then the corner is yours. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to get out of the corner before the other car.

“It means that you don’t give up your position and that you don’t have to back off because it’s the other car’s duty not to hit you.”

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