Toto Wolff has condemned accusations of bias in how he has managed his drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, with the Mercedes team principal describing those positing such theories as better off watching “Teletubbies or Mickey Mouse” rather than Formula One. With Antonelli leading Russell by 84 points in the world championship as they go into this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, the Italian’s first title is within his reach. The 20-year-old has driven superbly in only his second season in F1 but Russell has struggled with poor fortune and reliability issues that have stymied his championship challenge.
At the last round, in Malaysia, an engine failure cost Russell a potential podium spot and led to a host of accusations online of bias towards Antonelli. Speaking in Singapore, Wolff’s exasperation was clear. Do they think I have a button that says: ‘George, engine failure now’?
Or disadvantaging one driver against the other when we are fighting for a constructors’ championship when we have always had the mindset of providing everybody equal material? These people really contribute to my own entertainment when they are abusing the team or myself. But really, zero understanding and respect for people who come up with these things.
Rather than watching Formula One, they should do Teletubbies or some Mickey Mouse.” Russell goes into Sunday’s night race on the Marina Bay circuit clinging on in the title fight. Not only did the engine failure cost him in Malaysia but it meant he has had to take a new engine for this race and with the attendant penalties will have to start from the back of the grid on a track where overtaking is enormously tricky. Mercedes have further complications in Singapore.
The upgrades they brought to Malaysia did not prove effective and have left the team somewhat perplexed as to why they had not delivered. They opted, with Russell’s approval, to split their options this weekend with the British driver reverting to the spec with which he had won in Baku and Antonelli running the new version in order to provide an insight into where the developments were wanting. In qualifying for Saturday’s sprint race, Russell was clearly enjoying his pre-upgrade ride more than his teammate.
He took second on the grid with Antonelli only in seventh, while Max Verstappen took an excellent pole to back up his win at Sepang. Antonelli certainly felt he was somewhat under the cosh in Singapore with a car far removed from what he is used to. It’s going to be a difficult weekend, it’s going to be very tricky.
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