Lando Norris
McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Williams
Racing Bulls
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine
George Russell was seemingly rebuked by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff on the radio after the British Grand Prix.
After finishing second at Silverstone, Russell told the team that they need to ‘really try and get on top of this straight-line speed stuff’ after a ‘very frustrating weekend’. He had claimed in interviews that he was losing multiple tenths to Kimi Antonelli through no fault of his own
But Wolff’s response to Russell was abrupt: “Yeah George, I think straight-line [speed] was okay in the race.”
If you were Toto Wolff, would you sign Max Verstappen to replace George Russell?
Explain your choice in the comments
Mercedes privately suggest George Russell is making excuses
Russell gained 18 points on Antonelli in the championship after the Italian dropped out of the points with a broken wheel shield. He had been battling for the final podium spot while his teammate chased the win.
Four-tenths down in qualifying, he was already 12 seconds behind the teenager when he made his first pit stop on lap 24. The trend of Antonelli being the faster Mercedes driver, which arguably began at the second race in China, continues.
RACER journalist Chris Medland says Mercedes couldn’t find any evidence to back up Russell’s straight-line speed complaints. He thinks the Briton is looking for external factors that he can blame.
“I had someone else within the team, in a private chat, mention to me that there’s nothing there, there was nothing in the data, there was no explanation,” Medland said. “They were trying to reiterate to him that in race trim, it was completely the same as Kimi.
Drop your podium prediction for the Belgian Grand Prix 👇
“George has it in his head now that he’s being hampered by his machinery and something’s not working for him. That’s a tough place to be, because you’re pointing to things outside your control as an excuse as such, rather than only focusing on what you can control.”
It should be noted that Russell acknowledged his own performance levels weren’t good enough either.
“Things within my control not good enough, things outside of my control haven’t been good enough, which has all resulted in poor pace,” he summarised.
Russell enters this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix 25 points behind Antonelli. The gap was 68 after Monaco, so he has made major inroads in the last three races, largely due to misfortune on the other side of the Mercedes garage.
Receive exclusive F1 news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
