Hamilton hit the barriers late in final practice on Saturday to trigger a red flag. As his W14 was recovered, it was raised several storeys high to allow photographers to capture the underbody design.
With engineers estimating that 60% of car performance is owed to the floor, following the 2022 shift to ground-effects, the underbody aerodynamics have been a particularly closely guarded secret.
Teams have specially fitted covers that cloak the floor of the car when they are recovered and hoisted onto flatbed trucks.
Now that rival team aerodynamicists have been able to see and can analyse the Mercedes, which has been heavily updated for Monaco, Wolff joked that circus company “Cirque du Soleil” must have been in town.
The Austrian said: “Well, whoever performed the crane has probably worked for Cirque du Soleil.
“Honestly, that I don’t even comprehend. The car was on the road.
“You could have put it on a truck. You’re showcasing a car to everyone in the world.
“That was suboptimum for us, to say the least.”
Wolff did underline that he was making the comment in jest and praised the principality marshals, saying that “everybody is doing their best”.
Source: Autosport