Mercedes 'In Serious Trouble' With Budget Cap After Russell's Crash

Saturday, 26 October 2024 at 17:00

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted his team is "struggling to stay within the budget cap" after George Russell's crash in Mexico City.

George Russell said he felt "a bit winded" from his crash that came just 13 minutes after the start of the FP2 session at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

The Mercedes driver experienced unusual bouncing of the car when going through turns seven, eight, and nine and lost control of his car, sliding into a barrier on the outside of turn nine at a pretty high speed.

Formula 1

@F1

·Follow

The moment that took George Russell out of FP2 💥 Good to see the Mercedes driver walk away from this one 🤗 #F1 #MexicoGP

Watch on Twitter

7.0K

Read 123 replies

The 26-year-old was then transferred to the hospital, and fortunately, he is completely fine. His team principal, Toto Wolff, told Sky Sports Germany after the FP2 session.

"It was] 35G. So that was a really big impact. He was taken to the medical center, but he's okay. But of course, the car is badly damaged... but we have the [spare] parts."

"I think we can keep the old chassis, but everything else has to go out. The engine has to come out, the gearbox has to be checked, and then everything else. Two corners of the car are completely gone. So it's serious damage."

That in itself might not be such a big problem. However cost of all the repairs counts into the budget cap, and nearing the end of the season, Mercedes most probably cannot afford to spend too much on the crash damage. Wolff continued:

"We're in serious trouble. We are all struggling to stay within the budget cap, and of course, we had a bad accident with Kimi [Antonelli] at Monza. Then the second one with George last week [in Austin] and now again this week."

Starting from the FP3 session in Mexico City, Russell will need to be super careful not to make the situation even worse for the German F1 team.

There are still five Grand Prix and two sprint races to go until the end of the season. Can Mercedes drivers make it until the end without any more crashes?