Toto Wolff, head of Mercedes, stated that the problems faced by George Russell at the Belgian GP last Sunday (19) had shared responsibility between the team and the driver himself. According to the executive, the power unit hindered the Briton, but the driving may also have influenced the result.
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Russell’s situation worsened right on the first lap, when he was involved in a collision with Lewis Hamilton, of Ferrari, at the Les Combes chicane. Before the accident, the driver complained over the radio about the lack of battery on the Kemmel straight and said he had lost positions to three cars before the battle with the seven-time champion.
After the race, Wolff revealed that there was a power issue with the Mercedes engines. “There was a problem with all the Mercedes engines, power was missing on the straight,” said the executive, highlighting that the situation “hindered him a lot.”
Even recognizing the team’s failure, Wolff said Russell also needs to take part of the responsibility: “Probably, half of it is attributed to the power unit, which was not as good as it should have been on his side, and, on the other hand, maybe to the driving,” he told Sky Sports F1.
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“But we are all in this together. We all make mistakes. [At Spa], it was a mistake made by the team. Another day, it will be a driver’s mistake. We just need to minimize that and support each other.”
The Mercedes boss also highlighted that Antonelli, who won the race, may have had an advantage by better handling the new energy management demands of the cars. According to Wolff, the recovery and delivery of power from the unit have become a more important role in driving.
“This is another dimension that has been added to driving. Now, some drivers may not like it; others may say: ‘Ok, we just need to get used to it.’ But it is one more component that makes things more complex,” he concluded.
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