© Sam Bloxham for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff discusses George Russell’s “proper” engine failure, and says pitting the Briton under the Safety Car was ‘the right call’.
George Russell did not have a very fortunate Australian Grand Prix. First Mercedes decided to pit him for fresh tyres on lap 9 under the Safety Car, which dropped him to P7.
The race was then red flagged, which destroyed any strategy advantage he might have had otherwise, and then on lap 18 his car suffered an engine failure.
When asked about the reason for the failure, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said:
“Bang! It’s a proper failure but we don’t know what it was yet. I think it was on one of the cylinders.”
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The Austrian then said he thinks Mercedes made the right call when they decided to pit Russell.
“I think the strategy call with George was absolutely the right one, splitting the cars and I think he would have had a real go at being very much at the front, so that’s a shame.
“Both red flags, we didn’t see coming. I think restarts are great and have a great entertainment factor, but we just need to understand going forward when a red flag is being put out and what is a safety car or VSC.
“I think those incidents, we could have applied either,” Wolff concluded.
