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Toto Wolff Expresses Frustration After Disappointing Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Toto Wolff has expressed his deep disappointment, labeling the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as the “worst performance of the year so far” for the Mercedes Formula 1 team. The race in Jeddah ended with George Russell finishing in fifth place and Andrea Kimi Antonelli in sixth, placing them well behind competitors like McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari.
Wolff’s confusion and frustration stem from the unexpected lack of pace shown by the Mercedes team during the race. Coming into this event, Mercedes had a promising start to the 2025 season, sitting second in the championship standings.
“It was clearly our worst performance of the year so far,” Wolff stated. He noted that the team struggled with intense tyre blistering and overheating, leaving them without a clear explanation for their drop in performance. The disappointment was heightened considering Russell had qualified third, indicating potential for a much better race outcome.
“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,” he elaborated.
Russell mirrored Wolff’s sentiments, particularly regarding tyre management. He noted during an interview with Sky Sports F1: “They were massively overheating. I was pushing hard to stay with Max at the beginning of the second stint, but I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hold on.” He recounted a steep decline in performance during the final laps, stating, “I was dropping a second a lap in the last 15 laps.” Despite this, he acknowledged that even a better performance would likely have still resulted in a fifth-place finish.
Russell recognized the current limitations of the car, saying, “We know that it’s a bit of a weakness of our car at the moment. And coming home P5 on a bad day – we’ll take it – but we need to try and improve it quickly.” He also pointed out that the steeper track temperatures were not the culprit for their issues, explaining, “It’s about how fast we’re going through these corners, and for whatever reason, we’ve generated more temperature than our rivals.” He described the situation of tyre blistering, likening it to tires becoming like balloons, which significantly compromised grip.
This disappointing showing followed a successful start to the 2025 season for Russell, who had secured three podiums in the first four races, including a second-place finish in Bahrain just a week prior. Reflecting on the contrasting performances, Russell said, “We need to understand why Bahrain was so positive, because that’s also an overheating track, but a very different type of overheating to what you experience here in Jeddah.” He noted the higher expectations faced leading into the Saudi race compared to Bahrain, leading to further disappointment with the outcome.
Additional reporting by Filip Cleeren and Mark Mann-Bryans
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