Toto Wolff was forced to watch a difficult Grand Prix in Monaco, where both his drivers got stuck behind the Williams cars which were deploying team tactics for their own ends. The Mercedes boss revealed after the race that Williams chief James Vowles had even sent him a text mid-race to apologise.
In truth, the team’s problems started on Saturday when Antonelli crashed out of Qualifying before Russell suffered a loss of power. That left the duo in 14th and 15th on the grid – and knowing a tough afternoon awaited.
But with both cars on the hard tyre at the start and aiming to go long before pitting, Mercedes’ day went from bad to worse when first the Racing Bulls cars starting to play the team game, and then Williams followed suit.
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As those two started to back up the pack to create gaps for pit stops, Mercedes were stranded behind, each needing two pits stops when they were already a lap down on the leaders.
Russell endured a frustrating race behind the Williams cars in Monaco
«Today was just not our day. Starting P14 and P15 was going to be a challenge, and we knew about this from the start,” Wolff said.
“There were no scenarios that could have brought us some points and hoping for a red flag or a Safety Car was the only option available to us. Saturday’s Qualifying penalised us for today’s race, and that’s usually the case in Monaco when you start further back in the field.”
Wolff called the race “frustrating” and that is exactly how it looked. First Liam Lawson ran slowly to create time for his team mate Isack Hadjar to pit twice, then Carlos Sainz did the same for Alex Albon – and in doing so, allowed Lawson to get his stops in.
Williams then swapped their drivers and allowed Sainz his pit stops, with Russell and Antonelli behind growing more and more impatient as they saw the race going away from them, and with it any chance to make the top 10. Russell eventually finished 11th, with Antonelli in 18th.
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“There were teams that were punching above their weight, like the [Racing Bulls], and they had to protect their position, and as well as the Williams, and we were probably one of the victims of that. But we were, because our Saturday didn’t go well,” Wolff added.
James Vowles at Williams used to work closely with Wolff in their Mercedes days, and the Austrian confirmed that the Williams boss had messaged him during the race as the strategies unfolded, telling him, “I’m sorry. We had no choice.”
Wolff’s reply? “We know.”
In the end Russell took matters into his own hands, cutting the chicane to get ahead of Albon and then building enough time to serve the drive through penalty he received while the Williams man continued to back the pack up. But it was to no avail, as once he had pitted twice for his tyres, Russell still wound up 11th.
Antonelli’s late pit stops dropped him to the back of the field
When asked why Mercedes did not try anything different, either pitting early or splitting strategies, Wolff confirmed that those ideas had been analysed – but would not have brought them points. That played out in the race, with Yuki Tsunoda opting for an early stop in the Red Bull – but winding up way down the order when he served his second stop.
As for where this result leaves Mercedes, with Spain on the horizon and Ferrari back in the mix, Wolff is not too sure.
“We’ve seen, not only with us but also with Red Bull and Ferrari, you suddenly lose a little bit of your way and you come into some kind of state where you’re not sure whether an upgrade works, whether it’s the ambient conditions – the hot races were our Achilles’ heel last year. And the cold ones, we dominated. So, we will assess.
“Let’s see how Barcelona goes and the following races. Definitely, it’s less of a performance than we had pre-May,” he concluded.