Mercedes Formula 1 Team Principal Toto Wolff believes that George Russell could have been in contention for victory on the 17th lap of the Australian Grand Prix had it not been for his engine failure. Russell won the start from second and passed Verstappen before turn one, securing the race lead.
Although Red Bull seemed to have the stronger race pace than Mercedes, Wolff says Russell would have had a good chance of winning, but only if the red flag hadn’t come for Alexander Albon’s crash on lap seven.
“We’re happy with our pace, you have to say that,” said Wolff. “We’ve made a step forward here in Australia. Behind Verstappen, everyone was actually pretty much the same speed. It’s a shame about George, because I think we might have been up there with the strategy, but that’s the way it is.”
Wolff makes it clear: an early stop was not a mistake!
When Albon maneuvered his Williams into the wall on lap seven, the safety car was initially activated, which some of the medium starters – including Russell – used to change the tires to save time. On the hard tyres, the Briton, who came back into the field on P7, could have passed without any problems, while Verstappen at the front would have had to come back to change tires again.
However, when the safety car became a red flag it was clear that Russell’s strategy would no longer work as red flags allow modifications to be made to the car, including a tire change. Verstappen was able to complete his mandatory pit stop completely free of charge and keep the lead of the race.
However, Wolff does not believe that Russell’s early stop was a mistake: “I think we made a good decision by splitting the cars. And with the hard tyre, yes without the red flag, he would probably have been at the front , might have even won the race. But then it went against him.”
Wolff: Red Bull was back in “its own league”
Due to Russell’s technical defect, there would have been no victory anyway, but despite the missed opportunity, the Mercedes team boss emphasizes that under normal circumstances Red Bull are in “a league of their own”.
“It was an engine failure, a substantial one,” he says. “But above all the pace was right. We were up front under our own steam, also closer to Verstappen, but you shouldn’t have any illusions. They’re in a league of their own and now we have to understand why we were better here and then hopefully follow on from that in the next races.”
“It speaks for many things, not just the engine but also the chassis side, but you shouldn’t let that fool you. We had a great start with both cars. They drove perfectly, but we would still have the pace can’t keep up. If the DRS works out, the Red Bull train is just too fast.”