Wolff explains Mercedes' Dutch GP team orders after Russell's radio frustration

Mercedes‘ Toto Wolff has said the late decision to swap drivers, and title rivals, Kimi Antonelli and George Russell at the Dutch GP “wasn’t a very difficult call,” despite the latter’s clear reluctance over team radio.

Antonelli got ahead of Russell at the start of the Grand Prix at Zandvoort, and took the lead of the race following a standing restart after Max Verstappen’s shocking Lap 1 crash at Turn 14. However, Norris regained his lead with a superb Lap 54 overtake on the Italian, whose attempts to catch the Briton on soft tyres following a late Virtual Safety Car were to no avail.

Between Norris and Antonelli during the race’s closing stages was Russell on older tyres, with the 28-year-old initially pleading with Mercedes to play the team game, wary of the pursuing Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

Having been told to ‘invert the cars’, and doing so, Russell appeared to question Mercedes’ decision, asking over team radio: “Is he fighting for the win? Is he planning to catch Norris?”

Ultimately, it was a double podium for Mercedes, who will feel like they could have taken home the victory. The Brackley-based team have nonetheless extended their lead at the top of the Constructors’ standings, undoubtedly the clear priority for Wolff. Russell has levelled Hamilton on points in the Drivers’ – 59 behind Antonelli.

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Speaking to media, including GPblog, on the team orders and Russell’s apparent reluctance, Wolff was asked whether there was a disconnect between driver and team: “No, I don’t think there will be anything between. Obviously, team orders are always harsh. From one driver’s perspective, you can’t expect a line in the car and a walk over at the same time, but it’s what they always discuss. It was something we agree on the Sunday morning strategy meeting.

“We’re not losing time with each other. There’s competitors just breathing down the neck. We’ve seen it with the Ferraris at the beginning of the year in Shanghai. We just lose so much race time, we’re losing more points. And that’s why we are proactively trying to be proactive, not reactive, we’re trying to be proactive and avoid losing any points.”

“Today wasn’t a very difficult call because Kimi was running second, clear of George, and that’s basically the order where we scored after the stop.So, completely normal, we would have done it the other way around.”