Russell warned of Mercedes ‘honour’ as Wolff response sparked

Toto Wolff hopes that the “numb feeling” goes away for a dejected George Russell, but sees two sides to the coin.

While Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, understands that a driver is “very emotional” after a situation like Belgium, he also warned that it is an “honour” to drive Mercedes F1 machinery.

‘Numb’ George Russell addressed by Toto Wolff

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Russell’s title ambitions took a fresh blow at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Russell was out of the race on Lap 1 after colliding with former teammate Lewis Hamilton at La Source.

An untelevised radio rant from Russell revealed that he headed down the Kemmel Straight on the first lap having run out of battery. Russell lost significant ground, went late on the brakes, made contact with Hamilton and spun into the gravel.

Both Russell and Hamilton called it a racing incident, though Hamilton was hit with a five-second penalty.

Russell is now 50 points behind Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, and after the Belgian Grand Prix, told PlanetF1.com and others that he feels “numb to the disappointment now.”

“When it happens so often, you just get used to it,” Russell continued.

“For whatever reason, the battery decided not to recharge at Turn 1. I went around the first corner, the battery didn’t charge, and I exited the first corner 35 per cent down.

“Because it didn’t charge, I also had a boost problem. The turbo didn’t sort itself out, so I had no power. I got to the top of Eau Rouge with 0 per cent on the battery. Quite frankly, it was dangerous.

“I got swamped by three cars. Shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place, and that’s why I’m most angry.”

Wolff was quizzed on Russell’s “numb to the disappointment” comment.

On one hand, the Mercedes boss gets it. On the other, he reminded of the privileged position which Russell is in.

“You have to understand that the driver is very emotional when these situations happen,” Wolff told PlanetF1.com and others.

“But on the other side, as a Formula 1 driver, you’re part of a very elite group.

“I think it’s quite an honour to drive a Mercedes. Sometimes we let ourselves down, and this is just the driver, but it’s also us. It’s valuable constructor points that we lose in our fight against Ferrari.”

Ferrari secured a P2 and P4 result at Spa, Charles Leclerc ahead of Hamilton.

That saw the Scuderia reduce its deficit to Mercedes to 73 points.

More on George Russell from PlanetF1.com

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Untelevised George Russell radio reveals sweary rant at Mercedes

“I hope the numb feeling goes away,” Wolff added on Russell. “We will try to help to recreate optimism and positivity.”

Russell will look to respond at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the final round before the summer break.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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