Mercedes has been sharply criticized by fans following the publication of a post-race debriefing on its social networks, in which George Russell and Toto Wolff discuss the problems encountered.
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Starting from second place on the grid, Russell ultimately finished fourth at Suzuka and did not hide his frustrations in the debriefing video, which fans described as awkward and a communication disaster.
The video begins with Russell stating: “It was a terrible day”, to which Wolff acquiesces, believing that the problems started as early as qualifying.
This prompted fans to criticize the Mercedes director for not correcting these problems before the race. One of them stated: “The only discussion to be had should have been about the setup before qualifying. It cost him dearly in qualifying and then in the race.”
Difficulties despite the victory
Despite a front-row start for both Mercedes drivers, problems appeared immediately. The future race winner, Kimi Antonelli, lost five places at the start before climbing back to the lead, notably thanks to his pit stop under the safety car.
Russell and Wolff also discussed the starts, with Russell stating: “The starts are still not good enough. But honestly, with a stop one lap later, we probably would have won the race, and we would be talking about an excellent day today.”
The Briton fell to fourth place at the start, while Antonelli dropped to fifth. The Briton stopped one lap before the violent accident of Oliver Bearman, which triggered the safety car.
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Cascading problems
During this neutralization, several problems affected Russell: a battery that was not recharging, then a software bug after the restart that slowed his car at the entry of turn 13. This allowed Charles Leclerc to overtake him, relegating Russell to fifth position. Although he then overtook Lewis Hamilton, he failed to catch the Monegasque and had to settle for a place off the podium.
Russell commented: “It’s frustrating. And then there were all those little problems afterwards, like the battery not charging at the restart behind the Safety Car, and this software issue with Charles.”
For his part, Wolff explained this by unfavorable circumstances and plans that do not always come to fruition. Fans, for their part, rather supported the driver, blaming the team and, ultimately, on Wolff.
Fans’ reaction to the debriefing
One user on the team’s official social networks wrote: “Oh my god, it’s really shameful. Don’t let Toto put on a show after messing everything up and ruining his race. He performs brilliantly in the worst conditions while you keep making mistakes.”
Another added: “Does Toto realize that as a leader, George’s race was compromised BECAUSE of the team, and that he should apologize on its behalf?”
After two complicated weekends for the English driver, the publication of this video clearly did not ease tensions. All eyes will now be on the next race, in Miami, to see if the problems mentioned have been resolved.
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