Toto Wolff, despite Antonelli’s second place: major frustration and World Championship worries

Kimi Antonelli finished a strong second in the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. Yet Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was far from satisfied after the race. George Russell had retired shortly before the end due to (yet another!) engine problem. Had it not been for that retirement, second and third places would likely both have gone to Mercedes. Mercedes has a strong engine this year – but one that is also extremely prone to failure. On top of that, Mercedes brought an upgrade to Sepang that apparently didn’t work at all.

Speaking to Sky after the race, Toto Wolff said: “I’m naturally happy for Kimi; he’s made up a few points on Lewis (Hamilton, ed.). And that’s really good, but I’m not happy at all overall. Not at all happy that George came to a standstill. It’s bad for his championship, really bad. For us in the Constructors’ World Championship, it’s also a sticking point, a negative.” 18 points very quickly turned into zero points.

World Championship in jeopardy?

The Austrian: “Yet another reminder that we still have seven races to go. And if we break down twice more in those seven races, then things could look bad for the Constructors’ Championship – or for the driver.” Kimi Antonelli now has an 84-point lead over George Russell and, with his 18 points for second place, was able to extend his lead over Russell even further (who, after all, came away empty-handed). He holds a solid 106-point lead over Lewis Hamilton. In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes are 151 points ahead of Ferrari. They’re clearly on course for the title – but several retirements could actually turn things around.

Wolff: “And that’s why, at the moment, the frustration at how the weekend went is the overriding feeling. The chassis update didn’t work, the engine didn’t hold up. And the race went against us too.” Next week in Singapore, the race is likely to take place under similar conditions – will the upgrade be rolled back by then? Wolff joked bitterly: “We’ll have to see which lorry we find the parts in.”

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