‘Our worst performance so far’ – Toto Wolff left searching for answers after Mercedes’ low-key display in Saudi Arabian GP

Toto Wolff did not mince his words in the aftermath of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, after George Russell started third and finished fifth, while Kimi Antonelli started fifth and came home sixth.

Both were passed by McLaren’s Lando Norris, who was recovering back up the field after a poor qualifying and was always going to be difficult to keep at bay. But Russell also lost out to Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, who disappeared up the road to leave the Mercedes toiling far back from the leaders.

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Russell was struggling with his hard compound tyres, even radioing at one point to ask if they would make it to the end of the race, as a line of blisters could be clearly seen on his front left. But he did see the chequered flag after one-stopping – just quite some time after Oscar Piastri had won the race.

“Clearly our worst performance so far from the year. The pace just dropped away with a blistering tyre and overheating tyres, and so far we haven’t got the explanations,” Wolff said afterwards.