Wolff reveals power unit issues on the opening lap of the Spa race
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff described the Belgian Grand Prix as a "bittersweet" day for the team after Andrea Kimi Antonelli claimed victory at Spa-Francorchamps while George Russell retired on the opening lap following another reliability-related setback.
Antonelli delivered a mature performance to secure his sixth Grand Prix victory of the season, recovering after losing the lead to Charles Leclerc during the Virtual Safety Car period.
Russell, however, was unable to capitalise on Mercedes' strong potential after a boost issue left him vulnerable on the run to Turn 5 before contact with Lewis Hamilton ended his race.
Wolff praised Antonelli's ability to remain focused after losing track position and successfully fight his way back to the front.
"It’s a bittersweet day here in Spa. Kimi has been strong all weekend and drove a brilliant race to take the win."
The Mercedes boss highlighted the similarity between Antonelli's recovery at Spa and his previous charge at Silverstone.
"He kept focused after losing the lead to Leclerc under the Virtual Safety Car and, just like in Silverstone, he chased the Ferrari down. This time he was able to take the victory though, and it was very well deserved."
While celebrating Antonelli's result, Wolff admitted Russell's early retirement was another frustrating blow: "George on the other hand was an unfortunate first lap casualty."
The Austrian revealed that both Mercedes cars suffered from a lack of boost on the opening lap, although Russell was affected more severely.
"Both our cars suffered from a lack of boost which affected power on the run out of Turn 1, the reason for which we are investigating, but George was impacted more severely and lost several positions."
The resulting loss of performance left Russell in traffic before the collision at Turn 5 brought his race to an end. Wolff sympathised with Russell, who has endured several difficult weekends due to issues outside his control.
"He was then turned around at Turn Five to end his race. He has had another tough weekend where he has faced several issues outside of his control, and we are working hard to get on top of them."
Despite Antonelli's victory, Wolff admitted Mercedes again failed to extract the maximum possible points from its package. However, the Mercedes team principal believes the performance level of the car is strong enough to fight for both championships if the team can address its reliability concerns.
"As a team, we come away without having maximised our points scoring again. We have a strong package that is clearly capable of fighting for wins and both championships."
Wolff identified reliability as Mercedes' main weakness and confirmed that the team is prioritising improvements before the summer break.
With one race remaining before Formula One's summer shutdown, Mercedes is determined to carry its winning momentum into the break.
"We are working hard to improve our reliability as that is the clearest area of weakness. With one race left before the summer shutdown, we will be giving it our all to do that and go into the break with as much momentum as possible."
