Mercedes admit ‘we got it wrong’ as Hamilton reacts to DSQ disappointment

Hamilton finished a strong second behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen but post-race checks found that the plank underneath the seven-time world champion’s Mercedes had worn too thin. 

As a result, he was excluded from the race results, along with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was sixth on the road. 

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff conceded his side “got it wrong” and said the team accepted the punishment. 

“We can take a lot of positives from the car performance today,” Wolff said. “We hate coming so close to winning and falling short. 

“But this is a circuit where only a few races ago we wouldn't have performed well because of the fast, sweeping corners. 

“The upgrade seems to have made the car happier in those areas and it is working well. Directionally, it's a very good sign.   

“Turning to the race result and the disqualification, set-up choices on a sprint weekend are always a challenge with just one hour of free practice - and even more so at a bumpy circuit like COTA and running a new package. 

“In the end, all of that doesn't matter; others got it right where we got it wrong and there's no wiggle room in the rules. We need to take it on the chin, do the learning, and come back stronger next weekend.” 

Meanwhile, Hamilton insisted the disappointment of his DSQ does not take away from an otherwise positive weekend. 

“I came here in the mood to fight hard, felt great and I'm really happy with my performance,” he said. “Overall, we still didn't perform optimally today. 

“We had good pace and I was feeling great in the car. It was tough racing those around me as they were so quick, but we can be happy with many things. I feel positive as we're moving forward, even if reflecting on it we could have possibly won today. 

“It is of course disappointing to be disqualified post-race but that doesn't take away from the progress we've made this weekend.”