Toto Wolff (Mercedes) hints: Are team orders coming after all?

After a retirement (Montreal) and a race marred by penalties (Monaco), things finally went smoothly again for Mercedes driver George Russell in Barcelona, where he finished second. However, teenager Kimi Antonelli was unable to finish the race and ended up with no points in Barcelona. Team principal Toto Wolff sees the Barcelona weekend as a cause for concern – for two reasons.

The Austrian first offered his warm congratulations to his former protégé Lewis Hamilton, who secured his first GP victory with Ferrari – and thus also his first win since leaving Mercedes. Looking at his own team, however, Wolff then had to admit: “Otherwise, I’m not exactly thrilled. We mustn’t resign ourselves to these recurring retirements.”

Retirements are adding up

Antonelli retired in Barcelona. In Canada, George Russell’s car broke down in the middle of the race just as he was leading. Wolff: “In Montreal we lost 25 points in the Constructors’ Championship, and today another 18 points – to finish first, you first have to get to the finish line. Reliability – that’s what we need to work on. It’s our top priority. Nobody is happy with this. We’ll leave no stone unturned to find the cause.”

But Wolff has more on his mind, namely the once again close battle between his two drivers – who almost got in each other’s way: “George had an incredible start to the race, where it looked as though everyone behind him had come to a standstill. But then the pace dropped, and in the subsequent stints towards the end of the first lap, as well as in the other two stints, Kimi clearly had the upper hand. We didn’t interfere in their battle, because that’s how we’ve always raced.” In other words, free racing without team orders or any other favouritism towards one driver.

Wolff: Discussing how to handle such situations in future

Wolff: “But it’s a situation we need to look into for the future. We’ll discuss how to handle a situation where there’s a speed difference when we’re fighting for a win or there’s a risk of losing a win. That’ll be an interesting discussion. But always completely transparent and in the best interests of the team.”

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Third party emerges in the World Championship battle

For Wolff warns: Hamilton is suddenly in the mix for the title fight. The seven-time world champion sits between the Mercedes drivers after Monaco: 41 points behind Kimi Antonelli after Barcelona, but nine points ahead of Russell. Wolff therefore warns: “There is now a third party getting involved in the battle for the championship. The Constructors’ and Drivers’ titles.” In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes has a 72-point lead over Ferrari.

We risk holding each other back.

Toto Wolff

Wolff: “In this regard, we are discussing internally with the drivers how we want to handle the situation. We risk holding each other back. I don’t think that will be a problem; it just forces me to reorient myself.”