Toto Wolff has conceded that Mercedes were entirely responsible for George Russell’s pointless outing at the Belgian Grand Prix, after the British driver’s race ended in a first-lap collision with Lewis Hamilton. Russell, who has been vocal all weekend about a perceived lack of electrical energy deployment, was left frustrated as he dropped out of the running at Les Combes.
The incident occurred when Hamilton clipped his teammate, sending Russell into the gravel and out of the race. While Russell described it as a racing incident, he maintained that the collision would not have happened had his car possessed sufficient straight-line power. Kimi Antonelli went on to win the race, extending his championship lead over Russell to 50 points.
“We had an issue on all Mercedes engines that we lacked the power out on the straights,” Wolff said. “That bit him badly and it goes 100% on us. George has 100% our support. Half of it is to be attributed to the power unit that wasn’t as good as it should have been and the other half may be on the driving. But we are in this together, we all make mistakes.”
Russell admitted the result had left him “numb with disappointment”, insisting he should not have been fighting with the Ferraris in that position. Wolff said he understood his driver’s emotional reaction, adding: “It’s completely understandable that the moment you’re out of the race, it’s so frustrating and the emotions boil. We are trying to solve the issues, he’s doing everything he can to get on top of his driving. I’m going to try to put my arm around him.”
Hamilton was handed a five-second penalty by the stewards but maintained it was a racing incident. “I was in the position where George obviously looked like he lost power and then he swooped around the outside and just had a small coming together,” he said. “I will text George later on. The last thing you ever want to do is come together with your teammate or with your old team who you highly respect.”
