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Mercedes Faces Disappointment at Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Toto Wolff, the team principal of Mercedes, expressed deep dissatisfaction following what he termed the “worst performance of the year so far” during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The race saw the Silver Arrows finish in fifth place with George Russell and sixth with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, trailing behind competitors from McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari.
Wolff voiced his confusion regarding the team’s lack of pace in Jeddah, particularly given their strong start to the 2025 Formula 1 season, where they entered the race ranked second in the championship. He remarked, “It was clearly our worst performance of the year so far. The pace just dropped away with blistering, overheating tyres, and we haven’t got an explanation yet.”
The disappointment was compounded by Mercedes’ performance in qualifying, where Russell secured a third-place start. Wolff added, “You manage your expectations being the second quickest — and even that is not obviously what we would wish to achieve — and then you see the race panning out like it did. It just adds to the frustration of the situation.”
Toto Wolff, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Russell echoed Wolff’s sentiments, highlighting issues with the Pirelli tyres during the race. He stated, “They were massively overheating,” and noted that he struggled to maintain pace with Max Verstappen at the start of the second stint. “I was dropping a second a lap in the last 15 laps. We just didn’t have the pace, and even if I had managed more, I think I still would have come home in P5.”
He acknowledged the team’s current difficulties but remained somewhat optimistic despite the result, saying, “Coming home P5 on a bad day — we’ll take it — but we need to try and improve it quickly.” Russell further clarified that the overheating issue was not due to higher track temperatures but instead related to how they were handling corners, leading to excessive tyre temperature and blistering. “Suddenly you just have no grip from the tyre at all,” he lamented.
This disappointing performance comes after a strong start to the season for Russell, who achieved three podium finishes in the opening four races, including a second-place finish in Bahrain. Reflecting on the contrasting outcomes of the two races, he stated, “We need to understand why Bahrain was so positive, because that’s also an overheating track, but very different from the conditions in Jeddah. We had higher hopes for the race today than we had for Bahrain, and it kind of turned out the opposite.”
Additional reporting by Filip Cleeren and Mark Mann-Bryans
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