Toto Wolff fires Lewis Hamilton and George Russell warning in Italian GP verdict

03 September 2023 , 16:34

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Toto Wolff cut a frustrated figure after the Italian Grand Prix (Image: Sky Sports)

Toto Wolff felt his Mercedes team did all it could in the Italian Grand Prix – but made it clear he will never be satisfied with two non-podium finishes.

George Russell finished one place ahead of Lewis Hamilton, fifth on the road. The latter held on to sixth despite picking up a time penalty for a collision with Oscar Piastri, while Russell was also penalised for an earlier incident.

Both built a gap big enough to not lose a place to Alex Albon when those penalties were taken into account. And it meant a solid haul of points for Mercedes despite losing out to both Red Bull and Ferrari cars.

Team principal Wolff's body language said more than his words after the race – he was clearly dejected after a race in which his team fought hard for only a small reward.

"That was a pretty incident-filled race for us and we maximised the points that were in there today," he said. "But, like always, we need to be careful not to be too happy about finishing fifth and sixth.

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"Looking back at them, I think both penalties for the drivers were fair, but fortunately they both did a great job to make sure they didn't have any consequence for the finishing positions – they both just took it on the chin, got their heads down and kept on racing."

Hamilton apologised to Piastri immediately after the race and took full responsibility for the incident. "I misjudged the gap that I had and it was totally my fault – I went and apologised to him straight after."

Russell was fairly upbeat as he summed up his race, and also raised hopes of a more competitive performance next time out in Singapore. "Fifth place was probably the maximum today and I think we'd have taken that result before the weekend," he said.

"We've outpaced McLaren and Aston Martin here, but unfortunately Ferrari were just a step ahead of us here – and then Red Bull out front. They were so fast in the high-speed corners today, I just couldn't keep [Sergio] Perez behind any longer than I did in the early laps.

"I'm looking forward to heading to Singapore next. We were competitive there last year and I think that our car will be better suited to that circuit, so hopefully we can fight a bit closer to the front than we managed here."

Daniel Moxon