Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reveals unease at joining Kimi Antonelli on Monaco podium amid continued woe for George Russell | F1 News

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff was conflicted about going on the podium to celebrate Kimi Antonelli’s Monaco Grand Prix podium amid another tough weekend for George Russell.

World championship leader Antonelli drove superbly from pole position to claim a fifth successive victory, while some major misfortune resulted in Russell finishing outside of the points.

The result extended the gap between the Mercedes pair to 68 points with Russell, who has gone four races without a podium, also losing second in the drivers’ standings to his former team-mate, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

Formula 1’s podium ceremony requires the team of the winning driver to send up a representative to collect a prize on behalf of the constructor, a role that Wolff made a rare appearance in on Sunday.

“I haven’t gone to a podium for 10 years because it’s always difficult to balance between one side of the garage being happy, the other one not,” said Wolff, who lives in Monaco.

“Today I couldn’t avoid it because the board member that I wanted to go to has said he needs to catch a flight, and then the team said, you’ve got to go, it’s the home place.

“While standing there, I’m always with mixed feelings.”

While Antonelli has exceeded expectations in driving superbly to claim the first five wins of his career in succession, Russell has endured some significant misfortune.

The Brit was leading Antonelli amid a thrilling battle in Montreal in May when a power unit failure ended his race.

Then in Monaco, Russell was unfortunate to receive a contentious pit-lane speeding penalty, which Mercedes then compounded by failing to serve it correctly, earning him a more severe drive-through penalty that dropped him from third to outside the points.

Wolff said: “The Montreal race was his to win. We let him down. In Monaco, probably we could have had a podium if not for the penalty mistake.”

‘People thought Piastri had won last year’

Wolff suggested Russell must look to last year’s title battle for inspiration, during which Oscar Piastri appeared set for glory before a poor run ultimately saw him lose out to his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, and also finish behind Max Verstappen.

“I’ve talked with him on Saturday and Sunday – this is a long championship,” Wolff said.

“Last year, I remember people saying, well, Piastri has won that. It’s not necessarily only about one year, but it’s many years. Luck swings your direction, and then sometimes it doesn’t.

“It’s not a question of not knowing how to drive. It’s about having a car on the knees that you feel confident with and that you can go fast. And that’s the fact.

“Formula 1 is about physics and not mystics. You don’t unlearn how to drive, and you don’t become a miracle wonder driver.

“I’m not stressed at all for his performances because he’s one of the best.”

Formula 1 heads straight to Spain for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix with live coverage on Sky Sports F1 from this Friday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime