Toto Wolff has revealed that every Mercedes-powered Formula 1 car on the Belgian Grand Prix grid suffered from a mysterious energy deployment problem at the start of the race, a glitch that proved decisive in George Russell's first-lap collision with Lewis Hamilton.
The Mercedes team principal confirmed after Sunday's race at Spa-Francorchamps that all eight cars powered by Mercedes engines — including works drivers Russell and Kimi Antonelli, plus customer teams McLaren, Williams, and Alpine — experienced a shortage of electrical energy exiting Turn 1.
"We had a lack of energy out of Turn 1 on all Mercedes engines," Wolff said. "So it wasn't only George."
The issue was most severe for Russell, who emerged from Eau Rouge with 30-40% less battery deployment than expected. The Briton was swallowed by oncoming cars on the Kemmel straight, dropping from third to fifth before being collected by Hamilton at Les Combes in a race-ending incident.
"All Mercedes engines had a lack of energy out of Turn 1, so it wasn't only George," Wolff explained. "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 the accident with Lewis."
Even Antonelli, who dominated the weekend by taking his sixth victory in ten races, admitted confusion amid the chaotic start. "I was so confused about what was happening because Max came flying past me before Eau Rouge, and then I passed him back," the Italian said. "I was looking in my mirror the whole time because I just saw so many cars coming."
McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri — whose cars also use Mercedes power units — had separately voiced frustrations with power unit behaviour across the Spa weekend, adding to the sense that the problem was widespread rather than isolated to Russell's car.
Russell, who has been affected by reliability problems earlier this season in China and Canada, described the situation as "dangerous" in immediate post-race comments. The championship gap to team-mate Antonelli has now swelled to 50 points.
Wolff struck a conciliatory tone when asked how Mercedes would manage the emotional impact on its driver. "I hope the numb feeling goes away," he said. "We will try to help to recreate optimism and positivity."
Mercedes said the issue has been identified and will be addressed ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Sources
- https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1101518/1/mercedes-reveals-dramatic-f1-engine-problem-hit-all-cars-spa
- https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/13565252/george-russell-mercedes-driver-knocked-down-but-vows-to-fight-on-for-f1-title-as-team-work-to-resolve-mystery-car-problems
