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Toto Wolff has explained why George Russell pitted for a second time at Imola, eventually finishing behind Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the chequered flag.
For most of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Russell maintained a lead over Hamilton. However, Russell made an additional pit stop while Hamilton and most of the other drivers opted for a one-stop strategy. Consequently, Russell finished the race in seventh position, just behind the seven-time World Champion.
Toto Wolff explains Mercedes call to pit George Russell a second time at Imola
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
While Russell was able to close up a significant portion of the time he lost in the pit lane come the chequered flag, Wolff revealed that Mercedes’ wear forecasts had placed Russell short of reaching the chequered flag on the set of tyres he had.
Mercedes seized an opportunity to secure the bonus point for the fastest lap by keeping Russell ahead of Perez, as Sergio Perez aimed to make a breakthrough for Red Bull while charging through the field.
Wolff acknowledged that the team is “frustrated” with achieving sixth and seventh place, but they are determined to continue enhancing their car in the future.
“After the race, Wolff stated that although the progress may not be immediately evident in the outcome, we have indeed made a modest stride forward this weekend.”
“Although our closest competitors have made recent progress, we have managed to narrow the gap to the front slightly. However, there is still a substantial amount of work ahead of us, and naturally, we are all disappointed with finishing in P6 and P7.”
However, there is still more to expect, and it revolves around achieving small but significant improvements. These are crucial to maintain if we want to compete with the three teams currently leading the race.
What has changed for the teams following the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix?
2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix (Imola) – race results and latest F1 standings
F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
After George’s second pit stop, our wear forecasts indicated his potential struggle to maintain the hard tyre until the race’s conclusion.
“We were presented with a chance to pit and overtake Perez, so we decided to bring him in. This also allowed us to aim for the fastest lap point. It did result in George losing a position to Lewis, but in the end, the team was successful in securing an extra point.”
For Russell himself, he would not allow himself to get too down by losing out on a position in this manner – but while he felt it was “losing the position for the sake of it” in the immediate aftermath of the race, he wouldn’t lose sleep over it given it was not for a major placing in the race.
“After crossing the finish line, Russell expressed to the media, including PlanetF1.com, his desire as a driver to secure the best possible position, and throughout the entire weekend, he had managed to stay ahead of his team-mate.”
“I had maintained a comfortable lead throughout the entire race, but then I inexplicably relinquished my position for no apparent reason.”
We have secured the additional point, but as mentioned earlier, I won’t dwell on it tonight. It’s just sixth place, not a podium finish or a victory.
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