All Mercedes-powered Formula 1 cars suffered an engine problem at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, team principal Toto Wolff has revealed.
Wolff's disclosure came after George Russell dramatically fell back through the pack on the Kemmel straight before being caught up in a race-ending collision with Lewis Hamilton at Les Combes on the opening lap.
"All Mercedes engines had a lack of energy out of Turn 1, so it wasn't only George," Wolff revealed on Sunday in Belgium. "It affected him more than Kimi [Antonelli], but also Kimi had that issue to a certain degree. That meant that he [Russell] 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."
Russell was swallowed up by three cars on the run to Les Combes as he lacked battery power — down 30-40% — from Eau Rouge due to an unknown glitch with his Mercedes power unit. The Briton immediately branded the issue "dangerous" following 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.
Mercedes team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli retained his lead from pole position into La Source, but Red Bull's Max Verstappen powered past the Italian teenager on the run to Eau Rouge. Antonelli re-passed Verstappen seconds later and went on to score his sixth victory from 10 races to extend his lead at the top of the world championship standings.
"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."
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, whose McLaren cars are also powered by Mercedes engines, shared their frustrations with the power unit's behaviour across the Spa weekend.
"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," Wolff added.
Sources
- https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1101518/1/mercedes-reveals-dramatic-f1-engine-problem-hit-all-cars-spa
