Mercedes Formula 1 chief Toto Wolff revealed all Mercedes powered cars suffered with a lack of energy deployment at the Belgian Grand Prix start, with George Russell the biggest victim of an unknown battery glitch.
Russell started third at Spa-Francorchamps but soon fell back into the pack on the Kemmel straight as he lacked battery charge from Eau Rouge onwards, suffering a charging issue through Turn 1.
As Russell fell into the clutches of Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes driver was tagged by the latter into Les Combes and got stuck in the gravel bed, ending his race on the spot.
Mercedes chief Wolff has since confirmed the battery glitch affected all Mercedes-powered cars to some degree, with an investigation to take place in the coming days.
“All Mercedes engines had a lack of energy out of Turn 1, so that wasn’t only George,” Wolff said. “It affected him more than Kimi [Antonelli], but also Kimi had that issue to a certain degree.”
Antonelli had a poor start as well as he fell behind second-placed starter Max Verstappen, but the Italian retook the lead after drafting past the Red Bull man towards Turn 5 in what he called a “crazy start”.
“I was so confused about what was happening because Max came flying past me before Eau Rouge,” Antonelli said. “And then I passed him back, but then I saw Charles that almost came alongside me. And I was like, what the heck is happening, you know? I had no clue.
“I was just trying to hold a position on track, and I was looking in my mirror the whole time because I just saw so many cars coming. It was a crazy start, but luckily we got away cleanly.”
Pierre Gasly was another Mercedes powered runner to make a poor start.
Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images
Other than Russell, the biggest victim of the Mercedes’ battery glitch was Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who saw cars simply drive away from him on the run down to Eau Rouge as he lost several positions from 10th on the grid.
“I had no power at the start, so it’s clearly not good stuff to have around Spa,” he said. “I had a tough start, not fast enough in the opening phase for some reason and lost some positions on the opening lap.”
Other Mercedes powered cars appeared to be affected less dramatically, with the likes of Williams driver Alex Albon actually making a strong start before he started falling back. Carlos Sainz also suffered a poor start, but that was down to making contact in Turn 1, prompting a front wing change.
“We have an incredibly strong engine and a fast car, but the package just isn’t reliable enough yet,” Wolff acknowledged. “That’s something we need to fix because it’s costing us valuable points in the constructors’ championship.”
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