Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has apportioned some of the blame for George Russell’s crash at the Australian Grand Prix to the driver himself.
The incident occurred on the last lap of the race as Russell attempted to overtake Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso.
Russell lost control and hit the barriers, while Alonso escaped unharmed. However, Alonso was penalised 20 seconds for his role in the incident.
“You can hear the drivers, they obviously understand much more on a track that I’ve never raced on, and they’re split.” Wolff said.
“I think Fernando was aggressively defending by trying to take out the momentum before the corner, and maybe he’s overdone it,”
“George was just trying to [set up] an overtake there, but [he] also takes a certain part of responsibility for having lost the car there.”
“So what I make of this accident, I think in these high-speed corners, maybe you need to take a little bit of the karting philosophy.” Wolff added.
Data shows a significant difference in throttle and brake usage on that lap compared to others, suggesting an attempt to gain an advantage that might have contributed to losing control.
“Killing speed before the corner to have a better exit. But who am I to say? I’m not sitting in that car, I’ve never been on that level,” Wolff said.
“So I’m just an observer and I look at the data and throttle and brake input, and that was very different on that lap to all the others.” he added.
Aston Martin opted not to contest Alonso’s penalty following the Australian Grand Prix incident. The team expressed support for Alonso but acknowledged the lack of grounds for an appeal without fresh evidence.
“Alonso is the most experienced driver in Formula 1. He has competed in more Grands Prix than anyone else and has more than 20 years of experience. He is a multiple world champion in multiple categories,” Aston Martin boss Mike Krack said.
