Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said the team needs to work to restore George Russell's confidence after the British driver blamed a lack of speed for the collision that ended his Belgian Grand Prix and damaged his Formula 1 title chances.
Russell was trying to retake fourth place from Lewis Hamilton around the outside when the Ferrari driver clipped his rear wheel and sent him spinning into the gravel trap, putting him out of the race on the first
lap.
In an expletive-filled message to Mercedes over the radio, Russell directed the blame at the car, not Hamilton, saying it was “unacceptable” he'd had a dramatic loss of speed on the previous straight, dropping him from third to fifth behind Hamilton.
“It was a new problem but it wasn’t only on George’s side. Instead, it affected all the Mercedes engines, some more, some less, and Kimi (Antonelli) too," Wolff told Sky Sport Germany, suggesting a software problem was to blame.
"We have an engine that’s incredibly strong, a car that is fast but simply not stable enough and we need to get on top of that because we’re losing valuable points in the constructors’ championship.”
Wolff added: “We just need to try to make the best possible equipment available for him. That’s not just a fast car and a good engine but something that holds up and gives him confidence in the car again.”
Antonelli went on to win the race, doubling his advantage over Russell to 50 points. Russell is now third in the standings, five points behind Hamilton, who got a five-second penalty for causing their collision.
“Car crossed over right in front of me,” Hamilton said, adding he'd lacked front-end grip to avoid the collision because he was following another car closely.
Russell has been struggling to match Antonelli's pace in recent races and, even before Sunday's race, had suggested an issue with the Mercedes car may be holding him back after he lost out in straight-line speed to Antonelli in qualifying.
Russell told Sky Sports he had “no words at the moment” after the incident, when asked about the impact on the title race.
“The incident shouldn’t have happened if I had the speed down the straight,” he said.
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
