27/05/2025 08:10
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has defended George Russell after the Briton was penalised for overtaking Alex Albon illegally at the Monaco Grand Prix. The race around the iconic F1 circuit saw the enforcement of two mandatory pit stops for the first time. But coupled with the lack of overtaking opportunities, some teams instructed one of their drivers to drive deliberately slow to allow their team-mate to pit and re-emerge in the points. One such squad who deployed the tactic was Williams, with Alex Albon backing off his pace to benefit team-mate Carlos Sainz. On lap 50, before he had made the first of his two pit stops, Russell overtook Albon by going into the run-off area at Turn 10, stating he was "avoiding a collision" due to the Thai-British driver going so slowly. When he was instructed to give the place back, he stated he would "take the time penalty" and build a gap Albon, before the stewards slapped him with a drive-through. Wolff stated Russell was attempting to trial a different approach, as overtaking was an impossible task around the narrow street circuit. "The amount of back off was catching him [Russell] and Kimi [Antonelli] out," Wolff told media including RacingNews365 . "I think Kimi was the one who nearly crashed into one of the Williams' on braking. "You think about going 5.5 seconds slower also then this becomes a different track, different braking points. "With George, same situation. It was difficult to stop the car, just going straight, and I think it was a moment of frustration to do something different. "We knew that it was a stop-and-go, we were hoping it would be 10 seconds. But it didn't change anything." Toto Wolff reveals Mercedes strategy debate Wolff revealed that Williams team principal James Vowles, who was once a crucial member of the Mercedes F1 set-up, sent him a text during the race in which he apologised for his squad's strategy. Mercedes was the last team in the field to conduct their first pit stops, with Russell not opting to switch tyres until lap 53. Ahead of the race, it was unknown how it would play out with so many potential strategies theorised. Wolff admitted he was keen to make two early pit stops and then cycle back to the front once others had made their stops - however the Mercedes strategy team saw the dangers of traffic, which put a stopper in the idea. "We had quite an interesting discussion this morning on strategy, and I said, 'well, let's do that," Wolff said. "Stop early, come out, and then catch up'.We did the DTM back in the day, it was fantastic. "You stopped, you were last and you won the race. But the more intelligent people in our strategy group demonstrated to me that that's not going to work here in Monaco. "It was the best strategy. You can see the ones that did the early stop, and it didn't change anything."
