FLOYD ON F1: Mercedes sour grapes amid Red Bull success

Monza, the so-called “Temple of Speed”, certainly provided some serious entertainment for all who follow F1.

With the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz on pole, Max Verstappen’s Red Bull second and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc third, it promised to be a great day for the Tifosi, with the possibility of a win for the Maranello team.

Verstappen was out for his tenth consecutive victory, a new F1 record and had his work cut out.

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Great F1 battle

You will all be aware of the result and those watching would have thoroughly enjoyed the battle between team mates Sainz and Leclerc for the final podium step, hats off to Ferrari team chief Frederick Vasseur allowing the two to go head to head, absolutely enthralling and exciting the predominately red shirted fans.

I have to admit I was somewhat surprised when I came across an article last week, in which Lewis Hamilton stated in an interview with Sky Italy that his F1 team-mates were stronger than Verstappen’s.

He was quoted as saying. “I’m no more impressed than I have [been] when Michael (Schumacher) was leading, when Sebastian (Vettel) was leading, when Kimi (Raikkonen) was driving, when Fernando (Alonso) was winning.

“I think the team as a whole, is one of the strongest, they are firing on all cylinders right now. The car is incredible. The driver is doing an amazing job, very consistent. The pit crew are doing a great job, strategy’s doing a good job and on point. You can’t fault them.”

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Success ‘blown up’

He continued: “The narrative, that goes through the media, you know when I qualified half a second, six tenths ahead of Valtteri, they didn’t say the same thing as they say today when Max qualifies six tenths ahead of Perez, it’s blown up much more.

“In my personal opinion, Valtteri and all of my team mates, have been stronger than the team mates that Max has had. Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, George Russell, Valtteri Bottas, Nico Rosberg. I’ve had so many.

“These guys have all been very, very strong, very consistent and Max has not raced against anyone like that.”

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Toto cries Wolff

Then there was Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff’s comments following Verstappen’s 10th consecutive win.

“Our situation was a little bit different because we had two guys fighting against each other within the team. I don’t know whether he cares about the record. It’s not something that would bother me, any of those numbers,” said Wolff.

Then he added, “It’s for Wikipedia, nobody reads that, anyway.”

What is going on at Mercedes, an F1 team that dominated for so long and set a very high standard of professionalism within the sport? The performance of the Silver Arrows has certainly plummeted over the last two seasons, mainly due to an aerodynamic issue, but the very nature of the sport demands innovation within the regulations and on occasion it can backfire.

Surely the answer is to continue to fight back, not become involved in some rather strange and uncalled for comments about the opposition. Perhaps time to check the lack of sweetness in the grapes at the Brackley vineyard?

The next stop on the F1 calendar is the Singapore Grand Prix on 17 September.