All Mercedes-powered Formula 1 cars suffered from an engine problem at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix, team principal Toto Wolff has revealed, with George Russell the most affected driver on a chaotic opening lap at Spa-Francorchamps.
Russell dramatically lost battery power exiting Turn 1, causing him to fall from third to fifth on the run up the Kemmel straight before being collected in a race-ending collision with Lewis Hamilton at Les Combes. The Briton immediately labelled the issue "dangerous" after his first-lap elimination.
"I came out of Turn 1 [and] for whatever reason, I was 30-40% down on my battery and I just got totally swamped up by three cars," Russell explained.
But Wolff confirmed that every Mercedes-powered car on the grid — including the works team, McLaren and Williams — experienced the same glitch, albeit to varying degrees.
"All Mercedes engines had a lack of energy out of Turn 1, so it wasn't only George," Wolff said on Sunday in Belgium. "It affected him more than Kimi, but also Kimi had that issue to a certain degree. That meant that he didn't come out at the end of the straight in P3, but P5. So he lost his two positions, and then obviously [had] the accident with Lewis."
Wolff expressed frustration at the points lost for both Russell and the constructors' championship. "It's unfortunate, losing points for him, losing points in the constructors' championship, and it's like every weekend we have one car that doesn't finish."
Despite the glitch, Russell's Mercedes team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli managed to retain his lead from pole position through La Source, briefly losing the lead to Max Verstappen on the run to Eau Rouge before repassing the Red Bull driver seconds later. Antonelli went on to score his sixth victory in 10 races, extending his championship lead.
"It was crazy. To be fair, I was so confused about what was happening because Max came flying past me before Eau Rouge, and then I passed him back," Antonelli said. "But then I saw Charles almost come alongside me, and I was like: 'What the heck is happening?' I had no clue."
McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, whose cars also use Mercedes power units, shared their frustrations with the power unit behaviour across the weekend at Spa.
Mercedes has not yet disclosed the root cause of the glitch, but the team is expected to investigate ahead of the next round of the championship.
Sources
- https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1101518/1/mercedes-reveals-dramatic-f1-engine-problem-hit-all-cars-spa
