The technical issues present a dilemma for Mercedes with the title race so finely poised. “We are trying to push the performance every year and this year we’ve come to a point where it has cost us points, but over the last 10 or eight years that mindset has won us races and championships.” “We are trying to get on top of the problems, and we haven’t understood fully,” Wolff said. Verstappen started the Russian Grand Prix last month from the back of the grid after exceeding his season’s allocation of several parts, including a Honda engine. Two other drivers with Mercedes engines – George Russell of Williams and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel – are also being penalised this weekend for using replacement parts. “This year it has really hit us hard.” He declined to go into detail about the specific problem. “I think you see that we are suffering on the reliability this year,” Wolff said. Plus watch how Lewis vs Max started early in Austin. It is the Finn’s third penalty in four races. Bottas – third in the standings and the victor in Turkey – was handed a five-place grid handicap on Friday for using a sixth internal combustion engine this year – three more than the regulations permit. But Wolff’s delight at his drivers’ superior straight-line speed was tempered by anxiety over technical issues. Mercedes dominated the first practice session in Texas, with Valtteri Bottas quickest and Hamilton next, while Verstappen was almost a second slower. That outcome means the Red Bull driver holds a six-point lead over Hamilton with six races remaining. Hamilton’s Mercedes dropped 10 places on the grid as the punishment for a fourth engine change of the season and he while Verstappen was second. It was a sign of the tension between them after the world champion was overtaken at the top of the standings by Verstappen in Turkey two weeks ago. The rivalry between Hamilton and Max Verstappen threatened to boil over when the two went wheel-to-wheel in the second practice session on Friday, prompting Verstappen to give Hamilton the middle finger and exclaim over the radio: “Stupid idiot!”
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