Wolff is considering rules between Russell and Antonelli as Hamilton threat grows

Mercedes face a new internal calculation

Toto Wolff has admitted Mercedes may need to reassess how George Russell and Kimi Antonelli race each other after Lewis Hamilton’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix victory sharpened Ferrari’s threat in both championship fights.

Russell and Antonelli were locked in another late-race contest in Spain, with Antonelli passing Russell in the closing laps before a mechanical issue ended his race. Russell went on to finish second, but the earlier phase of their battle — before Russell’s stop — has clearly left Mercedes with questions.

Wolff points to time lost against Hamilton

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Wolff said Mercedes’ approach to letting its drivers race fairly may have carried a significant competitive cost.

“They raced each other quite hard before George’s stop and I think we lost four, five, six seconds to Lewis, and then obviously with the VSC, it changed the order,” Wolff said.

“We tried to race fair in the team game but maybe it cost us the win today and that’s something we need to discuss with the drivers, how are we doing it if we’re fighting somebody else for a race win.”

The issue is not new. Russell and Antonelli had already gone wheel-to-wheel in Canada, where they fought for victory before Russell retired while leading and Antonelli went on to win. They also battled in the Canada Sprint, a contest Wolff later described as “just acceptable” after Antonelli ran onto the grass at one stage.

That pattern now carries greater risk because Hamilton and Ferrari are no longer a distant concern. As previously analysed in our look at Hamilton’s first Ferrari victory in Barcelona, Mercedes’ internal battles were part of the wider picture behind the result.

Recalibration, not restriction

Wolff stopped short of suggesting Mercedes would impose heavy-handed team orders, but his language pointed to a necessary reset in race management.

“We’re leaving lap time on the track and we need to discuss with them for the future,” he said.

He later added: “I’ve always said that there is a third party now getting involved in the championship fight, constructor and driver. And in that respect, we will discuss internally with the two drivers how we want to handle a situation where we risk holding each other up. And I think it’s not going to be a problem. It’s just maybe we need to recalibrate.”

For Mercedes, the dilemma is delicate: preserve fair racing between two competitive drivers, while ensuring Hamilton’s Ferrari resurgence is not helped by avoidable time loss within its own garage.