“The car is bad, please drive it”: F1 fans react to Mercedes boss’ radio message to Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton had a very frustrating Austrian Grand Prix after qualifying fifth on Friday and crossing the finishing line in seventh on Sunday. Mercedes Team boss Toto Wolff publically requested Hamilton to bear with a slow-moving W14.

With a strong start of his own, Hamilton moved up to fourth place behind the Ferraris. That was the best his afternoon would go, though, as he battled to manage his Mercedes and was issued a five-second time penalty for repeatedly going beyond track limits.

Lewis Hamilton was on the radio multiple times during the race, complaining about the pace of his Mercedes.

Frustrated by the pace, Hamilton lost his composure to the point where Team Boss Wolff had to step in twice to remind him to pay attention to driving. He urged him flat-out to "drive the car" in the second icy team radio message.

Fans immediately took over social media reacting to that message by Toto Wolff.

On a weekend Mercedes would never forget, he and George Russell both earned a few points. Verstappen took the top spot. Leclerc took second, while teammate Sergio Perez finished third.

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Lewis Hamilton fumes over FIA track limits during the Austrian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton

Due to exceeding track regulations more than three times during the first 15 laps of the Austrian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was the first driver to receive a five-second time penalty.

He wasn't the only one to pick up a time penalty due to track limits. He was joined by a couple of other drivers in serving a five-second time penalty during the race.

Lap time deletions throughout qualifying and the Sprint race on Saturday have been a major discussion topic during the race weekend. They have brought criticism from a number of drivers who are now leading the field.

The Mercedes driver felt aggrieved by the penalty and radioed in to complain about his W14 "just not turning" as the race was at the halfway point. Additionally, Hamilton complained on the radio to accuse Red Bull's Sergio Perez of repeatedly going over track restrictions. He stated that Sergio should be handed out a penalty as well.

Toto Wolff addressed Hamilton over the radio to try and soothe his anger about the penalty by telling him that many other drivers, including those in front of him, would probably receive similar penalties. Hamilton crossed the line to finish in seventh place, adding a few points to his team.