Lewis Hamilton lost the Austrian Grand Prix with crucial errors in qualifying and Formula 1 title rival Nico Rosberg deserved to beat him, according to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Hamilton made mistakes on both of his flying laps in the final segment of Red Bull Ring qualifying, running wide at Turn 8 on the first run and having his time disallowed, before spinning under braking for Turn 2 on his final flyer.
The 2008 F1 world champion recovered to second in Sunday’s race, behind Mercedes team-mate Rosberg, and team boss Wolff said that was the best Hamilton could have hoped for, despite finishing just under two seconds behind Rosberg.
“He lost the race in qualifying,” said Wolff.
“He recovered tremendously with a great start and a great first lap, [but] in all our calculations the best possible result was second, and he achieved that.