Wolff Responds To Russell's Disqualification: 'We Clearly Made Mistake'

Sunday, 28 July 2024 at 22:00

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff responded to the disqualification of his driver, George Russell, after the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix.

Mercedes driver George Russell scored his second Grand Prix victory of the season at the 14th round around Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

However, his celebrations didn't last long. Shortly after the race concluded, stewards found his car was 1,5 kilograms lighter than the minimum prescribed weight.

As a consequence, the 26-year-old driver was disqualified from the race and lost the victory (which moved on to his teammate Lewis Hamilton). All the cars were reportedly weighed after the Grand Prix, and Russell's was the only one under the weight limit.

The official statement from stewards came after all the interviews were conducted, so the team principal of Mercedes, Toto Wolff, addressed the situation through his team's official social media account, where he said:

"We have to take our disqualification on the chin. We have clearly made a mistake and need to ensure we learn from it. We will go away, evaluate what happened and understand what went wrong."

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As is understood, the low weight of Russell's car could have been a result of him only going for one stop, which wore down his tires too much. Hence, they became lighter.

Christian Horner suggested Red Bull found on Friday that their cars easily lost over one kilogram due to tire wear after a longer stint. This is something that all teams must factor into their calculations, which is why Wolff admitted Mercedes made a mistake.

While it was frustrating for Mercedes to lose a one-two result, the win at least went to their other driver—the seven-time World Champion. Moreover, the team enters the summer break in a positive mood after a strong performance in Belgium.

"To lose a 1-2 is frustrating and we can only apologise to George who drove such a strong race. Lewis is of course promoted to P1; he was the fastest guy on the two-stop and is a deserving winner."