It was a weekend of mixed emotions for Mercedes at Silverstone. George Russell delivered a strong second-place finish, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli crossed the line only 16th after yet another reliability issue ruined what had looked like a promising race. The result could have been very different had the Italian not suffered a mechanical failure while closing rapidly on Charles Leclerc following his final pit stop.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and Deputy Technical Director Simone Resta have since analysed the problem that emerged during the British Grand Prix while also reflecting on the team’s overall performance throughout the weekend.
A race of two halves and Ferrari’s growing threat
The technical problems on Antonelli’s W17 remain a major concern for Wolff, who was quick to absolve the young Italian of any responsibility after the race. At the same time, however, the Austrian was encouraged by Russell’s podium finish, highlighting its importance after a difficult weekend.
“As far as the race is concerned, the feeling is bittersweet. The sweet part is Russell, who, after several difficult days in which he couldn’t find the right feeling with the car, managed to finish second. On the other hand, there’s Kimi. That race was there to be won. At the end he was making huge gains on Leclerc. I didn’t think it was possible, but my instinct was wrong and our strategists, thanks to their data, were right in saying that he would catch him with six laps to go because of the enormous tyre performance difference. That was the plan, but then we had that problem with the wheel shield that broke.”
Over the last three Grands Prix, Ferrari has claimed two victories, with Lewis Hamilton winning in Barcelona and Charles Leclerc following up with victory at Silverstone. Wolff acknowledged that the Scuderia could remain a serious rival for the remainder of the season.
“We have to focus on ourselves. Before this weekend they were saying they would lack energy at this circuit, but that wasn’t the case. They were very competitive and that’s exactly what we should expect from now until the end of the season.”
Simone Resta also refused to underestimate the Maranello team, insisting that Mercedes had always expected the competition to close the gap.
“From the very beginning we always said that, despite our strong start to the season, this would be a very long championship. It’s a development race, with every team reducing the gap and challenging us. That’s exactly what’s happening. We’re almost halfway through the season, there are still many races to go and plenty of developments are still coming from every team. Anyone, including Ferrari, is a serious challenger for us, and we’ll do everything we can to maintain our lead in both championships.”
The problem that struck Antonelli’s Mercedes
After two races compromised by power unit issues, Silverstone brought a different type of failure for Mercedes. Immediately after the race, Wolff explained what had happened.
“It was a technical issue caused after he hit the kerb quite aggressively. We saw that something broke over the kerb at Turn 9, but it’s a reliability issue, not a driver issue.”
That damaged component was later identified as the wheel shield.
“It appears to be the brake duct, the brake cooling duct. We call it the wheel shield. Something became lodged there and because of that the car simply wouldn’t turn.”
Resta confirmed the diagnosis in the days that followed.
“It was simply the failure of the front brake duct, specifically a section called the wheel shield. The component came loose and began interacting significantly with the suspension and steering behaviour of the car. The car became almost impossible to drive, but Kimi showed incredible resilience by keeping it on the track and giving himself the best possible chance of scoring points. As we said, it was extremely difficult to drive and that’s why Kimi went off the track several times. Unfortunately, that also resulted in the five-second penalty he received at the end of the race.”
Russell’s strategy and the Safety Car decision
The other side of the story was George Russell’s second-place finish, secured during the late Safety Car period after Lewis Hamilton pitted for fresh tyres in anticipation of a restart that never came.
The podium was particularly satisfying for Russell after struggling with straight-line speed throughout the weekend.
“We couldn’t identify anything related to engine power, so it had to be something mechanical, whether it was toe settings or something else,” Wolff explained. “The data confirmed he was slower, although it was very difficult to identify the exact cause. During the race it was much better because we didn’t see the issue anymore, but it’s still something we need to understand.”
Resta also confirmed that the problem had been resolved overnight.
“It was something the engineers worked on together with the drivers to ensure both cars were operating with exactly the same setup profile. In the end, the issue was solved between Saturday and Sunday, and both cars were in a very similar condition.”
The closing laps of the race proved chaotic. Following Max Verstappen’s accident with four laps remaining and the deployment of the Safety Car, Race Control initially announced that the Safety Car would return to the pits with one lap remaining before reversing that decision and allowing the Grand Prix to finish behind it.
Wolff immediately recalled the controversial Abu Dhabi finale of 2021, when the late Safety Car restart allowed Verstappen to overtake Lewis Hamilton and secure the world championship.
“I would have preferred this to have happened in 2021 because it would have been much more important. But it’s good that the regulations were followed, even if they don’t always produce the most exciting finish. Of course everyone would have loved to see Lewis on Soft tyres racing against us and perhaps fighting Leclerc, but this is sport. The spectacle follows the sport, not the other way around. So I think the FIA made the correct decision.”
This time the Safety Car worked in Mercedes’ favour, and Resta explained why the team chose to leave Russell out on track.
“It was the best strategy available to maximise our points. It was an aggressive decision by both the team and Russell, who fully supported the opportunity. It worked very well, allowing us to maximise George’s points and secure an excellent second place, a podium in front of his home crowd. That’s a fantastic result for us.”
Wolff on Mercedes’ reliability problems
Despite having what many consider to be the fastest car on the Formula 1 grid, Mercedes’ lead—particularly in the Drivers’ Championship—is significantly smaller than expected because of the number of retirements, especially compared to Ferrari.
“Overall, we’ve simply had too many retirements,” Wolff admitted. “It’s something we absolutely need to solve because, apart from having the best car and excellent drivers, that has been our biggest problem. Everyone is fully focused on fixing it.”
Asked about the root causes of Mercedes’ reliability concerns, Wolff reiterated the need for a more conservative approach, echoing comments made by Technical Director James Allison following Antonelli’s retirement in Barcelona.
“I think we’re so focused on performance, both on the chassis side and on the engine side, that we’re trying to extract absolutely everything. I’d rather take a small step back with something that is already extremely good and fix some reliability problems than keep chasing even more performance. And so far we’ve won seven races out of nine,” concluded the Austrian team principal.
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