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Toto Wolff believes responsibility for George Russell’s difficult Belgian Grand Prix weekend should be shared between Mercedes and its driver, after Russell claimed he was suffering from a power deficit compared with team-mate Kimi Antonelli.
Russell’s problems were evident throughout practice and qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps, where he lacked the pace of Antonelli. The Italian driver went on to secure pole position and win the race, while Russell’s weekend ended on the opening lap after contact with former team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari through the Les Combes chicane.
The incident followed a frustrated radio message from Russell, who complained that he had no battery available along the Kemmel Straight. He was passed by three cars on the approach to Les Combes before making contact with Hamilton and becoming beached in the gravel. The key moments from the unpredictable 2026 Belgian Grand Prix provide the wider context for a race that produced sharply contrasting fortunes for the two Mercedes drivers.
Wolff acknowledged that Russell had endured “a difficult weekend”, while also confirming that Mercedes’ power-unit performance was not where it needed to be.
“There was an issue with all Mercedes engines, that we lacked power down the straight,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1. He added that the problem affected Russell particularly heavily, but argued that the driver also had to accept part of the responsibility.
“Probably half of it is to be attributed to the power unit that wasn't as good as it should have been on his side, and on the other side, maybe on the driving,” Wolff said.
The Mercedes team principal stressed that the situation should be viewed collectively rather than as an attempt to assign blame. “We are in this together. We all make mistakes,” he said, adding that the team’s priority was to minimise those errors and support one another.
Wolff also pointed to differences in how Antonelli and Russell use the power unit and manage the battery. He said the new regulations had reset the competitive picture and that Antonelli may benefit from adapting quickly to the demands of energy harvesting and deployment.
Throttle application and lift-off timing can affect energy delivery, Wolff explained, making the driving task more complex. For Mercedes, the contrast at Spa underlined that performance is shaped not only by available power, but also by how effectively each driver extracts and manages it.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.