The Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying session presented the Mercedes Formula 1 team with several difficulties, which prompted Team Principal Toto Wolff to reprimand the squad.
George Russell had to start the race in 17th place after failing to progress past Q1. The accident was caused by a fuelling mistake, a crucial lapse on the part of the Brackley team. Lewis Hamilton, however, struggled with his car’s speed due to shifting track temperatures and only managed to start in fifth place.
“It was an utterly inadequate performance by all those involved.” It just isn’t right for a driver-team combo to lose a car in the first round. In the end, we simply lacked the momentum. A day of extreme disappointment.
“[Russell] ought to have completed the first lap when Lewis finished first. That was probably taking it too easy, he said,” continued Wolff.
The other one had a different run plan, but we used too little fuel in a lap. He chose to complete three quick laps because it was a fast-slow-rapid.
“Overall it’s 70 per cent the team’s mistake on not fuelling one lap more.”
Russell also expressed his annoyance with the state of affairs, outlining the vicious combination of unfavorable weather and cheap fuel. Additionally, in an interview with Sky Sports F1, the British driver said:
“When it was the wettest, I was on course, and when it was dry, I ran out of fuel. It was disastrous in every way. On that final lap, we should have been able to cruise through, but we ran out of petrol. That was my fault in the first place for holding the post.
“It was definitely not our typical caliber. Having enough fuel to last the entire workout is essential, but I also need to comprehend what went wrong on my end at the beginning. We made a serious mistake as a team.”
The seven-time winner discussed how temperature variations affect performance while also sharing his own regrets.
“You can never be content, so we came to attempt to be in the front.
“I believe we accomplished our goals and that we performed a respectable job. We parked the car in a really good spot, but we’re just not very quick in the heat.
“We were moving quickly and it was considerably cooler when the practice began. Others moved quicker as the temperature rose, while we moved slower—or at least didn’t move any faster.”
