Toto Wolff Shoots “Catastrophic” Statement After Lewis Hamilton & George Russell Suffer Painful Outcome

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff, both had the fight in their talk about securing P2 in constructors. However, after the shambolic display at Zandvoort, it looks unlikely. Whilst the cars were fast, some bad decisions possibly cost the Mercedes a shot at the podium. As Lewis Hamilton and George Russell suffer painful outcomes, Toto Wolff shoots a catastrophic statement. 

Just before the race started, Will Buxton asked Wolff what his realistic expectations were. The Mercedes CEO replied P2 as Russell started P3. However as the rain came pouring down on Lap 1, Mercedes made the wrong call by keeping both Russell and Hamilton out for a longer period compared to those around. Despite losing ground and going to the back of the grid, the safety car caused by Logan Sargeant’s crash did help the team a bit. 

While the middle laps were good for both Hamilton and Russell, the rain came toward the end and brought a red flag. After the restart, George Russell had contact with a McLaren and it was race over for him as he finished dead last. Hamilton finished a mere P6 in a car that had pace for the podium. Toto Wolff elaborated on Mercedes’ struggles.

According to @MercedesNewsUK’s tweet, Toto Wolff said, “We got it catastrophically wrong by staying too long on the track. Russell was at Max’s pace and Lewis was just as fast. We could have been ahead if we had done it right.”

Read More: 5 Mercedes Slip-Ups Exposed as Lewis Hamilton Faces the Brunt of Disastrous Decision Making

Nonetheless, unpredictable weather like this can catch anybody out. Mercedes needs to learn from today and make sure that it doesn’t happen moving forward. Let’s see what George Russell had to say about his race.

George Russell reflects on a challenging Dutch GP

George Russell started the race P3 and was hoping for at least a podium. As Toto Wolff emphasized, the pace was good. Russell echoed what Toto Wolff said as he advised on how the weather decisions went against the team and then later the contact with Norris made the day worse. Regardless, the Briton looks forward to the next race.

According to @MercedesNewsUK’s tweet, George Russell said, “At the end, I was side by side with Lando into the chicane at the end of the lap, then we had contact. It cost a few points and it was a shame because we had such a fast car today, and then our decisions on the weather went against us. But there are still positives to take away from the base pace we showed.”

What did you make of Mercedes’ performance?

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