Wolff between satisfaction and regrets after the Hungarian GP
The Hungarian GP leaves Toto Wolff with mixed feelings. Given how the weekend had unfolded after Qualifying, the Mercedes team principal can be satisfied: the team loses only one point to Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship and, above all, Kimi Antonelli extends his lead over Lewis Hamilton by another five points in the Drivers’ Championship. All this in a race that should have favored the Red team, which instead foundered amidst a thousand problems.
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Overall, however, Wolff sees the classic glass half empty. The Austrian proudly commented on Antonelli’s race, who climbed from seventh to third position with clean and consistent driving, but remains annoyed by some race incidents and the umpteenth technical problem that affected George Russell. Car number 63 engaged anti-stall at the start, compromising a Sunday that ended with a P7 that feels like a missed opportunity.
Wolff’s words
“Kimi did his best,” commented Wolff to Sky Sport F1. “He didn’t do FP1, then we didn’t work well with the setups and we made some mistakes in qualifying. He achieved a third place that, with a bit more luck with the Virtual Safety Car (on the occasion of Oscar Piastri’s retirement, ed.), could have been a second place.” Wolff is also unhappy with Gabriel Bortoleto’s behavior, who, as a lapped driver, didn’t see the blue flags (due to some technical problem, they don’t appear on the drivers’ steering wheels today) and slowed down Antonelli, who was trying to take P2 from Max Verstappen: “It bothers me to see that engineers from other teams don’t talk to drivers when there’s someone fighting for the podium behind them. To me, they’re like the Teletubbies (he makes a gesture of looking around bewildered, ed.).”
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“My glass is always half empty. I’m not satisfied enough. Today we made a mistake with George’s car at the start, we lost many points, and the reliability is not good. We’ve lost about 100 points in the Constructors’ Championship, and 40-50 in the Drivers’ Championship with Kimi,” he added. “But it’s a very fast car, the fastest in the first part of the championship. If someone had told me before the season that we would go into the holidays with a 50-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship and a 70-point lead in the Constructors’ Championship, I would have accepted immediately.”
Mercedes’ lead in the Constructors’ Championship is 72 points over Ferrari: less than expected, considering the clear superiority of the W17 at the start of the season. The Red team, on the other hand, has almost never had reliability problems. At Zandvoort, Wolff’s team will react by introducing some new features, before a more substantial package arrives later in the season.
