Mercedes’ Formula One team boss now admits his team made strategic blunders in last weekends Qatar Grand Prix which cost George Russell a podium in the race. Having qualified 0.055seconds behind a resurgent Max Verstappen, George was to inherit pole following a controversial decision by the race stewards.

The world champion was penalised for driving too slowly on a cool down lap which delivered the highly unusual punishment from the stewards of a one place grid drop for the Grand Prix. Russell allegedly pressed the stewards hard to issue Max with the penalty, something he was most vocal over when discovering his fate.

However, it was Max who prevailed following the spat as he made Russell wait along on the starting grid for what seemed like an age before Verstappen finally drew alongside him into his grid slot. As the lights went out, Max powered up the inside of the Mercedes driver taking the lead through turn one which he did not relinquish before the chequered flag fell.

 

 

 

Russell pits too early

George was also hijacked in turn two by Lando Norris which saw the Mercedes driver trail around in third place until his pit stop. On the preferred medium race tyre, Russell was unable to remain in touch with the leaders and by lap 23 was falling into the clutches of Oscar Piastri.

The team elected to pit their lead driver to avoid a possible undercut yet as the race unfolded it became the tyre degradation was negative and switching to the hard tyre so early ruined Russell’s race. The cool temperatures and smooth track meant the usual degradation didn’t hurt those who pitted later than Russell who on the slower hard tyre steadily lost ground.

George trailed around behind Fernando Alonso for ten laps before he and the leaders finally made their first stops for fresh rubber and by then his race was in ruins. Toto Wolff now admits Mercedes’ failed their driver on strategy in the desert race and their decision stop George early was based on chronic understeer he was experiencing.

“This started to go really south after 15 or so laps when we realised that the car balanced itself out,” Wolff tells the assembled written media.

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Mercedes suffering from understeer

“The understeer crept in and we started to lose real ground to the guys driving in front of us and to Piastri behind us that we felt going on the other tyre and adjusting the front flap on the wing would give us an even happier situation. Which it did not always.”

Mercedes compounded Russell’s ongoing difficulties with a poorly executed pit stop which meant he came out behind a number of slower cars whose pace remained positive despite their ageing tyres.

“First of all, that pit stop wasn’t great. We came out behind a long zone of traffic that held us up for many laps. So, kind of one triggered the other. Overall nothing positive in that,” said Toto.

George was on target to repeat his win at the previous round in Las Vegas and to become the third driver this season to win three Grand Prix alongside Charles Leclerc. Yet Mercedes miscalculation of the situation left Russell in no mans land. His woes were mildly mitigated by the fact Lando Norris received a harsh stop and go penalty and was forced to drive through the field to claim the last point on offer.

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Russell could have made podium

The “terrible” understeer described by Wolff was as a result of the track continuing to grip up through the entire weekend, something Mercedes failed to consider. McLaren too suffered from complaicency following their 1-2 in the Sprint as they failed to use the relaxed parc ferme rules to alter the setup of their car for the Grand Prix sessions.

When asked if his driver could have won the Grand Prix had the team not made the mistakes they did, Wolff replied: “No, I don’t think so. I think yesterday if the Grand Prix had happened yesterday that was a winnable race.

“But, in sheer pace, I think we would have been behind Lando and we would have been behind Max. So a solid podium, but too much went wrong.”

Given Mercedes cannot affect their standings in the constructor table, the error means all that is lost is pride and the joy of a podium for George. However in a tight fight between the teams for a championship, the mistakes from Mercedes are evidence they are not the wining machine they once were.

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McLaren boss tears into stewards

Meanwhile another driver was suffering from decisions which did greatly affect his race. Lando Norris was had been challenging Max Verstappen for the lead since the first lap of the race. Yet a confusing display of the yellow flags from race control, saw Norris penalised for failing to lift and then was awarded a draconian ten second stop and go penalty which saw the McLaren driver relegated to the back of the field.

Team boss Andreas Stella now questions the validity of the decisions coming from race control in Qatar in particular the deploying and recalling both single waved yellow flags along with double waved yellows too. Whilst Norris did enter the start/finish straight under a single yellow flag, at the end of the straight a marshal was waving double yellows.

This affected the severity of the punishment Norris received which if deemed under single waved yellows would have been a race time penalty of between five and ten seconds. “I think it’s quite peculiar that the yellow flag was deployed and then was removed, but actually the situation in that sector was the same – there was debris on track,” Stella affirmed.

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“I think in the application of the penalty, I think we have lost any sense of proportion and any sense of specificity,” added the McLaren team boss.

“Can we look specifically at the infringement, at the level of danger associated to the situation and in fact the yellow flag was removed, and then judge using these kinds of elements – proportion and specificity – rather than taking a look at any kind of rulebook probably full of dust on top of it, and then apply it without any sense of critical approach?”

Battle will recommence in two days for the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Will George continue to avoid Max after snitching him up and can McLaren hold off a charging Ferrari to claim their first constructors’ title since 1998?

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F1 drivers attack stewarding

As the final weekend of the 2024 year approaches fast, Formula One has much to reflect on form its longest ever season of competition. A last minute agreement after the deadline for rule changes had passed saw the Sprint weekends modified so the cars can be  worked on before Grand Prix qualifying now held on a Saturday afternoon. This has proven popular with the teams who were irked come Friday afternoon that their car setup fixed for the remainder of the weekend.

Red Bull proved how invaluable this is last time to in Qatar with Perez and Verstappen qualifying well down the order for the shortened version of the Grand Prix. Yet a pit lane start from Checo in the Sprint and some head scratching back at base saw the world champions turn the car around with Max Verstappen quickest and claiming pole position.

Taking the short flight from Qatar to Abu Dhabi, a number of the drivers expressed now their places were set for the remainder of the year, there is an air of “school’s out” amongst paddock folk as the longest F1 race schedule in history will be complete… READ MORE