George Russell faced more than just a difficult weekend at the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix. According to Toto Wolff, Mercedes identified a specific problem with the Briton’s car and also discovered a new fault during the race at Spa-Francorchamps.
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The revelation helps explain Russell’s complaints about a lack of straight-line speed throughout the weekend. According to the Mercedes boss, the situation had a direct impact on the British driver’s performance, both in qualifying and in the race.
During the weekend in Belgium, Russell repeatedly highlighted the difficulty in extracting speed from his W17. On Saturday, he lost about four tenths to Kimi Antonelli in the final sector of the lap in qualifying, a difference that, according to Wolff, was partially caused by a problem already identified by the team.
“With George over the weekend, there was definitely something in the engine that we identified that meant less energy available to be deployed until Turn 18. It was good that we picked it up here, because in Budapest, which is not so energy-demanding, it would have been harder to identify,” Wolff stated.
The executive added that the loss represented approximately two to two and a half tenths in qualifying laps, although it had a smaller effect in long stints: “We believe the deficit was about two to two and a half tenths in qualifying modes and much less in race pace,” he said.
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In the race, however, Russell suffered a different problem. On the first lap, after Turn 1, the driver suddenly lost power, dropped several positions on the straight to Les Combes, and ended up involved in the incident with Lewis Hamilton, which ended his participation in the race.
Wolff explained that the failure did not only affect Russell: “When it comes to the race, all Mercedes engines had a lack of energy coming out of Turn 1, so it wasn’t just George. It affected him more than Kimi, but Kimi also had that problem to some degree, and that meant he didn’t come out of the straight in third, but in fifth,” he added.
Finally, the Mercedes boss confirmed that the setback recorded at the start was something unprecedented for the team: “It was something new. We wouldn’t identify it in the simulator because you have to specifically look for it, so it was a new problem,” Wolff concluded, also regretting the loss of points for Russell and for Mercedes in the constructors’ championship.
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