© Richard Pardon for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Toto Wolff reveals George Russell’s car had a “bug in the electrical system”, and adds “with equal cars, it’s going to be close” between him and Kimi Antonelli.
After George Russell finished the Japanese Grand Prix in P4, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff revealed his car had an issue.
“It was a bug in the electrical system in the software to try to give him an advantage,” the Austrian said.
“What it gave was a super clip that slowed the car down and this is where he unexpectedly lost the position to Leclerc, so we didn’t cover ourselves in glory with George’s race.”
On the other hand, George’s team-mate Kimi Antonelli won the race and became the youngest F1 championship leader in history.
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When asked about Antonelli’s pace advantage over Russell, Wolff said the two team-mates are very close when there are no car issues.
“I see it a bit mixed. The mistake that was made collectively really put George on the back foot with the car. From Q1, it was not good enough anymore and he had to fight with that too today.
“With equal cars, it’s going to be close, but the moment where it was about going fast, we had to decide to protect the position against Leclerc, but, Kimi was putting in perfect times, so that made the difference.
“But he [Russell] did not have a car that was perfect,” the Austrian concluded.
