"These are tough times"
Team orders at Mercedes: Strong words from Wolff
At Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix, team orders were issued between the two World Championship rivals, Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, in the final stages of the race. Will this now cause tension within Mercedes? Team principal Toto Wolff responds with clear words.
Kronen Zeitung als bevorzugte Google-Quelle hinzufügen Shortly before the end of the race, Russell had to let his teammate Antonelli pass—partly due to a team order. “I don’t think Norris was within reach anymore. It was simply a matter of creating the safest situation to score points,” Wolff explained to Sky after the race. Not intervening “would have been too big a risk, because the two Ferraris were really close.”
And the Austrian makes it clear: “That’s how we work; both drivers know that. We avoid the kind of situation that some other teams find themselves in when they don’t address these things clearly. These are tough times, and there are 2,500 people working to win the world championship. It’s not a one-man fight—and that’s how we’ve been working for 15 years!”
Russell Satisfied
Russell, who finished third behind winner Lando Norris and Antonelli, appears conciliatory on the surface. “I’m happy to be on the podium. It could have turned out very differently. Kimi would have been ahead of me anyway with the new tires; it was the right decision by the team. Overall, it was a strong weekend for me—I’m satisfied.”
But now the question arises: Is Mercedes already fully backing Antonelli in the championship battle? With his second-place finish at Zandvoort, he’s extended his lead at the top of the championship standings; the Italian is now 59 points ahead of Russell and Ferrari star Lewis Hamilton.
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