Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has dismissed suggestions from "couch warriors" that the Silver Arrows failed to treat George Russell fairly during the Italian Grand Prix. Russell was narrowly leading the race from his team-mate Kimi Antonelli when Mercedes took a decision to pit the Italian under a virtual safety car. The call ultimately benefitted Antonelli as he used his fresh tyres to pull off a stunning victory having started from 19th on the grid, which increased Russell's deficit to the Italian at the top of the standings to 66 points.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 ahead of qualifying at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, Wolff reiterated his belief that the fact Antonelli was running on a medium tyre and Russell a hard tyre completely justified the decision. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player "It's absolutely the right thing we did," Wolff said. "He (Russell) was on the hard.
It was predicted to be a one-stop as the better strategy. "The medium was a compromise; we had to put the medium on Kimi because he started on the hard. "There is just no way, and obviously there are some couch warriors that will drop their comments after having watched some other material online… saying that he was penalised is complete bull****." Russell started the season as the clear title favourite but has been outperformed by Antonelli, with the 20-year-old having dramatically exceeded expectations during just his second F1 campaign.
The Brit backed Mercedes' decision following the race in Monza, insisting that Antonelli deserved credit for his performance. Wolff admitted that "harsh calls" are required to win championships but insisted that there is no "hidden agenda or favouritism" with his team. "That's been part of our role in the last 12 years, to manage both sides of the garage well," Wolff said.
"Because if you are in a title fight, one is always going to be disappointed after a race and the other one is going to be happy. "I think as long as you're transparent and there is no hidden agenda or favouritism, then it's the best to manage it. "But it doesn't mean that we are not making some harsh calls.
We are having stern talks on a Sunday morning - what are the various situations we are facing? Behind some pressure from another team, and one of our drivers behind the other one and it's too slow, we're going to invert the cars when it's needed. "But it's a decision that you need to take sometimes, in either direction by the way, whoever is in front.
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