Toto Wolff explains why he didn’t want to reverse the positions between Hamilton and Russell

Toto Wolff believes that Lewis Hamilton would probably have beaten George Russell if the latter had not made a second pit stop during the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, which is why the team went against team orders at the end of the race.

George Russell was the only driver in the top 10 to complete the race with a two-stop strategy. As a result, he fell behind Hamilton on the track, because Mercedes swapped their positions.

Stopping, Russell asked if Mercedes would ask Hamilton to give back the sixth place to him at the end of the race, given that he had been ahead for most of it. But Hamilton and Russell maintained their positions of sixth and seventh.

Explaining the situation at the end of the race, Wolff said that Russell’s second pit stop was a safety decision.

« We didn’t talk about it. His lap times were getting slower and slower. Our forecasts at that time indicated that he wouldn’t finish the race. We didn’t want to lose the position to Perez. So, that was the decision to make.

« The forecast was for three or four fewer laps to get there. » If Russell hadn’t made a second pit stop, Wolff thinks Hamilton would have beaten him anyway.

« Lewis would have probably taken it anyway », he added. « The point is that we were fighting for sixth and seventh place. We wanted at least to keep the Red Bull behind. It was a safety decision. »

Mercedes did not finish on the podium in the first seven races, which had not happened since 2011. Despite Mercedes bringing improvements to their car, their overall competitiveness remains similar. « We are making progress towards where we want the car to be,” Wolff added.

« We are 30 seconds away from the fastest guys. That’s a lot. Sixth and seventh place are not results to be proud of. You can hear the frustration in my voice. There is more to come. These are incremental gains, marginal gains that we need to achieve. That’s how this sport works.