Wolff apologises to Russell after Mercedes energy failure costs him victory at Mexican GP

Toto Wolff has publicly apologised to George Russell after a Mercedes energy deployment failure wrecked the Briton’s Mexican Grand Prix, with the team principal conceding the Brackley squad had cost their driver a potential race victory at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Russell had qualified second on the grid — just 0.009 seconds behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who claimed pole — but an energy deployment problem at the start caused him to lose ground immediately. A 10-second penalty for a first-lap collision with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar compounded his misery, and he eventually finished sixth.

The result was made more painful by the fact that Russell’s other team-mate, Kimi Antonelli, finished third and claimed his maiden championship title on the same afternoon.

“We completely let him down today again,” Wolff told media after the race. “At that stage, we don’t know what happened. I believe he was racing for the victory here and then came this lack of energy and ruined his race.”

Wolff was candid about the broader pattern of misfortune that has plagued Russell throughout the season. “We have two drivers, we don’t have one. The car just didn’t work for him this year. And then misfortune like today, we just have to sort it out for him.”

The Mercedes boss also spoke to Russell directly after the race, footage of which spread widely on social media. “This is a very difficult moment for him; very, very, very difficult moment,” Wolff added. “My aim is to provide him with the equipment and the support he needs to fight for a championship.”

The sixth-place finish dropped Russell from second to fourth in the drivers’ championship. He now trails second-placed Max Verstappen by 11 points and sits nine points behind third-placed Hamilton, with the title fight entering its final stages.