Wolff reflects on Russell and Mercedes’ Austrian GP ‘bounce back’ as he highlights ‘where the race was lost’ for Antonelli

Toto Wolff expressed his satisfaction as Mercedes immediately returned to the top step of the podium at the Austrian Grand Prix following Lewis Hamilton’s victory for Ferrari in Barcelona.

George Russell converted pole position into the race win at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday – also marking a comeback of his own after triumphing at the season opener in Australia and then enduring a difficult run of events.

With Russell and team mate Kimi Antonelli taking P1 and P3, and Ferrari pair Hamilton and Charles Leclerc back in P5 and P8, the result also saw Mercedes stretch out their lead in the Teams’ Championship once more.

Reflecting on the outcome during F1 TV’s post-race show, Wolff said: “We are Constructors’ Championship guys, that’s what we all stand for, the team in Germany, the team in England, and we’ve made a good jump in terms of points this weekend.

“Obviously doing that with a 1-3, bouncing back after Barcelona, feels good.”

In terms of how Mercedes managed their strategies, with Russell making his stops earlier than Antonelli, around a couple of Virtual Safety Car periods, Wolff continued: “We kept it cool. We wanted to not be undercut, but also with Kimi we were confident enough to stretch it, to have an offset.

“Both times we came out two seconds in front of the car that was the risk factor for us. The tyres held on well, they managed it well, I’m really happy. It was one of the good weekends.”

Wolff then highlighted where he thought Antonelli missed an opportunity to make up more ground from his fourth-place grid slot, which the Italian youngster lined up in after being affected by the yellow flags issued amid Verstappen’s Q3 crash.

“I think, you know, he’s learning so fast,” said Wolff. “Maybe where the opportunity was, maybe where the race was lost, was ‘full attack’ in the first few laps.

“Pushing the braking points beyond everything he’d done all weekend just didn’t work out in the way it should have, but he had the quickest race times from then on, and I’m just happy to see how he came back at the end, and that’s why he’s the championship leader at the moment.”

With Verstappen splitting Russell and Antonelli in a heavily updated Red Bull, Wolff also shared his thoughts on the threat the Dutchman posed – particularly as caught Russell during the middle stint of the race.

“Yeah, I mean, he came in strong,” Wolff commented. “Obviously the closer he got the more difficult it was to maintain the pace also, with the dirty air.

“It was exciting to see whether he would catch up at the end, and whether Kimi would catch up on him. [F1 President and CEO] Stefano [Domenicali] told me it was good TV!”