Mercedes experienced a Sunday of opposite emotions at the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula 1. While Kimi Antonelli claimed victory in Montreal, George Russell retired from the race after an intense internal battle between the two team drivers.
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Toto Wolff admitted that he followed the battle with mixed feelings on the pit wall. The Mercedes boss said the duel between the teammates was exciting, but at the same time filled with concern due to the risk involved.
“As a team, we have had many situations like this where the feeling is bittersweet. You are extremely happy for one driver, but devastated for the other,” said the Austrian executive after the race.
Wolff revealed that Mercedes even considered intervening during the battle between Antonelli and Russell. According to him, the team was constantly monitoring the gap to the rivals and was ready to act if the advantage decreased.
“We only enjoyed half of the battle between them,” joked Wolff. “Every time we thought about saying ‘that’s enough for now,’ the next two laps were fast again,” added the team boss.
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Antonelli received direct praise from Wolff for his performance in Canada. The executive said the young driver fully deserved the victory after a solid race in Montreal: “Kimi did a splendid job today and deserved to win,” he commented.
On the other side of the garage, however, the mood was one of frustration with Russell’s retirement. The Briton was leading the race before leaving the event, prematurely ending a duel that promised to become one of the great moments of the season: “It was a shame for George, because he was leading,” said Wolff.
The Mercedes boss also explained that the team only allowed the battle to continue because there was a comfortable margin for the cars behind: “As long as we kept that advantage, it was fine to watch the fight, but obviously that could go wrong. If the cars behind were closer, we would have intervened,” Wolff concluded.
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