Baffled Mercedes hit new low as team insider makes ‘disappointing’ admission after watching McLaren

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Mercedes left the 2025 F1 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa on Sunday completely baffled, as George Russell came home in P5 yet 34.863 seconds behind Oscar Piastri of McLaren.

The Ardennes forest also did not prove to be a happy hunting ground for rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, as the 18-year-old failed to record a point for the sixth time through the last seven rounds. Bologna boy Antonelli also came home in just P16 after he started from the pit lane.

Mercedes chose to remove the Italian wonderkid’s car from the grid to change his rear wing, as Antonelli only qualified P18 for the Belgian GP after struggling in his W16 in the car’s low-downforce set-up. The Silver Arrows also changed his engine after his worst qualifying yet.

Mercedes’ delayed decision to pit for dry tyres cost Antonelli in the Belgian GP, as well, as he asked to get off his intermediate tyres before pitting on Lap 12/44. Russell also pitted on L12 yet had a lonely day after overtaking Williams’ Alex Albon for P5 on the first racing lap on L7.

Mercedes insider admits McLaren’s Belgian Grand Prix pace advantage was ‘disappointing’

According to Auto Motor und Sport, Mercedes had hoped to fight for at least the podium at Spa as Lewis Hamilton won the 2024 Belgian GP after Russell was disqualified, which would mark his final win with the Silver Arrows before joining Ferrari. Yet they were never a threat.

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Even though Russell overtook Albon on the first racing lap following the delayed start to the Belgian GP, the Mercedes driver was already 6.1 seconds behind Piastri as the McLaren man led the way after overtaking his teammate Lando Norris for the lead at Spa on the same lap.

The Briton’s deficit to the Australian, who now leads the F1 drivers’ championship with 266 points to Russell’s 157 in P4, even grew to 15.218s before the leaders pitted on L12. Russell even ultimately slipped away from the fight for the final position on the podium by 13.132s.

Mercedes had no reason for why they were so far off McLaren’s pace in the Belgian GP, with the mood in the team ‘at its lowest’. A team insider also admitted to AMuS: “Considering that we were losing almost a second per lap to the McLarens, that’s obviously disappointing.”

Mercedes have not finished higher than P5 since George Russell won the Canadian GP

Russell initially managed to keep Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in his sight after pitting. Yet the Monegasque and Dutchman quickly dropped the 27-year-old, who has not finished higher than P5 since Russell won the Canadian GP from pole position.

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The King’s Lynn native penned his and Mercedes’ only pole and victory so far in the 2025 F1 season in Montreal four rounds ago. Russell then finished the Austrian Grand Prix in P5 and 62.396s behind race-winner Norris and the British GP in just P10 and 70.674s behind Norris.

Additionally, Russell was 42.576s behind Leclerc for the last podium position at the Red Bull Ring. But his 35.932s gap to the rostrum at Silverstone was not truly indicative of Mercedes’ pace, as Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg secured his first career podium with P3 at the British GP.

Mercedes’ mistakes with Russell and Antonelli’s strategies destroyed them at the British GP by pitting too early for slick tyres on a wet Silverstone track. The mistakes they made in that race played a part in Mercedes’ reluctance to stop Antonelli one lap earlier for slicks at Spa.