Toto Wolff questions Max Verstappen’s true motives after the controversial clash with George Russell, as Mercedes F1 faces mounting pressure.
Wolff refrained from “jumping to conclusions” regarding Max Verstappen’s intentions when he collided with George Russell. Unlike Russell, who clearly accused his rival of deliberately hitting him, the Mercedes F1 team principal questioned the sequence of instructions and circumstances.
Verstappen received three penalty points on his license in addition to a relatively minor 10-second time penalty. The stewards did acknowledge the driver’s frustration, and although he avoided a race suspension, he will now be driving on thin ice until Austria.
“I’ve just learned that Max was instructed to let George back through. During the race, we had the impression he was having a problem with the car, which is why he was so slow exiting Turn 4,” said Wolff, who hopes Verstappen’s move was motivated by something other than a deliberate collision.
“I mean, if it was a moment of road rage—which I can hardly believe, because it was too obvious—it’s not good. But the truth is, I don’t know what he was aiming for. Did he want to let George through and then immediately retake the position?”
“To me, it’s simply incomprehensible. But again, I don’t know exactly what the motivations were, and I don’t want to judge and say it was an outburst of rage, etc. Let’s see what his arguments are. But it wasn’t right.”
Wolff lamented Verstappen’s refusal to admit mistakes and his tendency to alienate others: “I don’t know where it comes from. There’s a trend among the greats—whether in motorsport or other sports—to feel like they need the world against them to perform at their best.”
“That’s why sometimes these greats don’t acknowledge the world isn’t against them, that they made a mistake, that they were wrong, etc. And we haven’t seen those moments from Max in many years. It happened in 2021, and I don’t know what’s behind it.”
Asked about his team’s result, Wolff expressed satisfaction and believed competing with McLaren and Verstappen wasn’t realistic: “Looking at the leaders, no—they were much faster. Max was able to maintain the pace, and fourth place is good; it could have been a podium without Max.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli retired due to mechanical failure for the second time in three races, and Wolff wants to confirm the issue before discussing it: “It seems like an engine failure—there was a bang, and that was it. We need to check what happened.”
The overall assessment from the just-concluded triple-header is understandably negative, with 18 points for his team compared to 116 for McLaren, 71 for Ferrari, and 39 for Red Bull: “Suffering. On the sporting front, it’s clearly suffering, and we have to understand how to be competitive in hot conditions.”
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