SerpApi.Org
George Russell unleashed a furious tirade following his retirement from the Belgian Grand Prix. Russell exited the race on the opening lap at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday after making contact with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.
The British driver was subsequently penalized for the incident, though the collision only happened because Russell had been left vulnerable to the pursuing field following a first-lap power unit issue. Following the crash, Russell expressed his anger over team radio in comments that were not aired during Sunday's broadcast.
He raged: "What the f--- happened with the SOC (state of battery charge) down the straight? I had no f------ battery down the straight. Guys, unacceptable. Un-f-------acceptable, this whole weekend." Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton has been cleared after hitting Ferrari mechanic during pit stop.
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The British driver's comments reference the string of problems he has encountered this season that have contributed to Kimi Antonelli's championship advantage. Russell now sits 50 points behind teammate Antonelli after the Italian prodigy secured his sixth win from the 10 races completed thus far.
Addressing Russell's outburst, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff stated: "You have to understand that a driver is very emotional when these situations happen, but on the other side, as a Formula One driver, you are part of a very elite group, and it is quite an honor to drive for Mercedes."
"I hope the numb feeling goes away and we will try to recreate that optimism and positivity.
"All of the drivers, or at least the ones I have worked have, have difficult spells and it happens to any sportsperson. You need to find a way of motivating or building up, and George has his way, and I am definitely trying to help him with that.
"I have known George for such a long time. I understand his frustration, and the team is 100 per cent behind him."
Discussing Russell's engine issue, Wolff added: "The power units are so complex, the way you harvest, the way you deploy, and the interaction from the driver.
"We have a super-strong package, and we are doing our best to fix the reliability problems, but with new regulations sometimes that happens.
"With George, there was definitely something on the engine that we have identified, that meant he had less energy to deploy into turn 18.
"It's good that we spotted it here because, in Budapest, which is not an energy-starved circuit, it would have been more difficult to identify. But it still doesn't make it better for him and that probably accounted for half the gap, or a little bit more, that he had to Kimi."
