Mercedes had a disappointing qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton only fifth fastest while a fuel mistake condemned George Russell to 17th on the grid
Toto Wolff was frustrated with Mercedes’ qualifying performance in Budapest (
fumed over Mercedes’ “total underperformance” after a huge error proved costly for George Russell.
The Briton will start 17th on the grid at the Hungarian Grand Prix after an unexpected Q1 exit. It was caused by a lack of fuel in Russell’s car which meant he could not get in an extra lap at the end of the session, when the track was at its quickest.
So he could only watch on from the Mercedes garage as his name tumbled down the timesheets and out of the session. And as he reflected on that error, team principal Wolff made his frustration clear.
He said: “That was a total underperformance from literally everybody involved. Losing a car in Q1 is just not on. Driver-team combination shouldn’t happen. At the end, we just didn’t have the pace. Very, very disappointing day.