Wolff backs Russell after Belgian GP crash ends title bid on lap one

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AFP) — Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said he planned to offer George Russell personal reassurance on Sunday, after the British driver looked visibly upset following an opening-lap exit at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Wolff described the day as mixed fortunes. Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli took a hard-fought win — his sixth this season — pushing his advantage in the drivers’ standings to 50 points over Russell.

Russell had entered the race 25 points behind his teammate. He dropped to third in the championship after contact with former Mercedes colleague Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time title winner now at Ferrari.

Speaking to Sky Sports moments after being forced out of the contest, Russell pointed to a power shortfall in his car as the root of both his poor race pace and the collision.

“I got totally swallowed up down the straight,” he said. “I lost three positions going down into turn five. It was a racing incident. Maybe I could have gone a bit wider, maybe he could have braked a bit more.”

Race stewards ruled Hamilton at fault and gave him a five-second penalty. Even so, Russell again insisted that weak straight-line performance — an issue he had raised earlier in the weekend — left him vulnerable.

“The incident shouldn’t have happened. If I had the speed down the straight… I’m very, very disappointed.

“I appreciate everyone’s working hard to solve the problem but I’m stood here now — on lap five of the race.

“I felt like I was in a good position to fight for the lead at turn one and then suddenly, no power. It was all gone.”

Wolff stood by Mercedes’ power units, which supply both the works squad and customer teams including McLaren.

“We came out with a product this year that is so strong. And I’d rather have to fix reliability than accelerate a slow engine,” he said.

“We’re giving it 100 per cent; we need to, because we have lost a lot of points due to reliability. We should be further ahead.

“George has 100 per cent our support. He had a difficult weekend; half of it is to be attributed to the power unit that wasn’t as good as it should have been, and the other half maybe on the driving.

“But, we are in this together. We all make mistakes. Today is the mistake of the team and another day, the driver. We just need to minimise it and support each other.”

Wolff said he could see why Russell was both emotional and unsettled.

“The moment you’re out of this race it’s so frustrating and the emotions boil. We are trying to solve the issues.

“He’s doing everything he can to get on top of his driving and I’m going to try to put my arm around him.”