Wolff (Mercedes) on Antonelli’s misfortune and Russell’s luck: “That mustn’t happen!”

What a mad British Grand Prix! It had everything that makes Formula 1 so fascinating – tragic heroes, great fighters, sheer bad luck, unexpected good fortune; at times, the fans didn’t even know where to look.

The verdict from Mercedes’ perspective: Kimi Antonelli had the pace of a Silverstone winner and was closing in on the leader, Leclerc, but then an air deflector on the front left broke and became jammed in the suspension; Antonelli went off the track several times, then into the pits, Kimi wanted to fight his way through, but received a five-second penalty because he’d gone off the track several times.

And Russell? He spent most of the race in Antonelli’s shadow and, to make matters worse, suffered a puncture, but in the end there was an early Christmas present from Maranello – Ferrari brought both drivers into the pits during the safety car phase (following Verstappen’s crash), the leader Leclerc and Hamilton in second place, but because Mercedes cleverly left Russell out, George suddenly found himself in second place.

Then more luck for Russell: because the race ended under yellow flags, Hamilton had no chance of catching his former Mercedes team-mate.

Toto Wolff also had to take a deep breath after the turbulent Grand Prix before assessing the events as follows.

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“After a race like that, there’s naturally a bittersweet aftertaste. We secured second place, which George thoroughly deserved, as things have rarely gone his way in recent weeks.”

“In the end, we came away with P2 at a time when we actually thought we’d barely score any points. That’s the sweet part.”

“The bitter part is that Kimi was closing in on the leader, Leclerc, in huge strides. According to our calculations, he would have caught him six laps from the end, and then we would all have been treated to a fabulous duel.”

How did that aerodynamic component break off Antonelli’s Mercedes? Toto Wolff says: “We suspect it’s linked to driving over a kerb, probably at Turn 9, where the kerb is quite high. But that mustn’t be an excuse. The fact is – that part mustn’t come off. We’ll now investigate at the race car factory to determine how much force was exerted on the part. But at the moment, we’re simply disappointed.”

“Ferrari were strong today, but I’m convinced that with Kimi we had the pace to win here. Ferrari themselves hadn’t expected to be strong here because of their energy management, but they were. Ferrari are a real rival.”