Mercedes team boss, Toto Wolff, was left red-faced as he confessed to making ‘his dumbest decision ever’ following the Grand Prix of Austria. George Russell was handed victory due to a collision between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, but Wolff admits he got carried away in the seconds following the crash.
“George, you can still win this race,” the Austrian immediately shouted over the radio. However, the driver was in the braking zone of turn 3, one of the trickiest points on the Red Bull Ring. Russell made it clear he was not in the mood for such unnecessary comments, responding with, “Let me fucking drive!”
Wolff openly admitted his mistake at the circuit. “I think I know the drivers pretty well and I know how to motivate them because we spend so much time with them. So, I think I manage that psychological aspect well. This must be the dumbest decision I’ve ever made in twelve years at Mercedes. I’m utterly embarrassed,” said Wolff, somewhat exaggeratedly.
‘I wasn’t looking at the GPS data’
“Normally, you check where a driver is before you send your message. Obviously, you don’t do that in the braking zones or in a high-speed corner. But I wasn’t looking at the GPS data when I saw that Max and Lando had eliminated each other. We had to anticipate and in that emotion, I immediately pressed the button.”
Wolff realizes the message could have had far-reaching consequences. “I could have eliminated George with that message. I’m still emotional now. I love to see that we as a team and that Lewis and George perform well. I got carried away in that moment and as I said, it was really embarrassing.”
