Mercedes
Both Mercedes drivers had an eventful time of it in Zandvoort – but not necessarily for the right reasons. Russell was battling with Leclerc for much of the race, but picked up car damage when the Ferrari fought past in a bolshy move that was investigated after the race. That damage led to Russell letting Antonelli through, the youngster having climbed through the field thanks to an aggressive first stop that undercut him past some rivals. But then when Antonelli pitted again, Ferrari brought Leclerc in to counter. Sensing his chance, the rookie tried to send it up the inside into Turn 3 – but got it wrong and tagged the side of Leclerc. That landed him with a puncture, a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision and then a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane after fixing said puncture. As for Russell, despite his damage he climbed to fourth when those two tangled.
George Russell, 4th
“Today was a tough race for us. After the contact with Charles (Leclerc), I picked up a lot of floor damage. The chicane is not a place you see many people overtake because the racing line naturally takes you towards the apex and the gravel. It was an optimistic move, and the contact effectively brought my race in terms of fighting for the podium to the finish. I was losing close to half-a-second a lap after that so to finish P4 was probably better than expected.
“With all that said, we didn’t have the strongest performance this weekend and a podium would have been unlikely. Isack (Hadjar) ran a great race, and he completely deserves this podium. P4 is not where we want to be, but we can be happy that we gained points on Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship. Onwards to Monza.”
Kimi Antonelli, 16th
“The outcome of today’s race was such a shame. Our pace was really strong, and I was feeling great in the car. Despite starting P11, I’d gained several positions and was looking ahead to see if we could get ourselves into the fight for the podium. We certainly would have achieved a good result if it were not for the incident with Leclerc.
“As we closed on Charles, we saw an opportunity to try the undercut. We gained time by doing so and we emerged almost together on track. I tried to keep it tight into Turn 3 as he came out but unfortunately, even though the oversteer from my side was not that massive, I could not avoid contact as he was coming down the banking. Sorry to Charles and Ferrari as it never feels good to take someone out and end their race like this.
“I am now looking forward to Monza, my second home race. Single lap work is my priority as obviously starting at the front for each Grand Prix would be more beneficial for us. The positive we can take from Zandvoort is that our pace was strong so we will continue to work hard and I am sure the results will come soon.”
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“Today was a really challenging race for both our drivers with plenty of incidents on track. Ultimately, it is a shame for both as they could have been fighting for more than what they achieved today if things had played out differently.
“Since the beginning of the season, Kimi has made massive progress. We saw today once again how strong his pace was as he made his way through the field. He was sadly just slightly too optimistic with his move on Charles (Leclerc) and that cost both him and the Ferrari. That said, we want him to be aggressive and chase every opportunity he can on track. That’s what he did today and it’s a shame that it didn’t work out.
“For George, he was the unlucky party in his own incident. It was a risky move by Charles, too risky in my opinion, and George suffered damage. This cost him the chance to fight for the podium and possibly a few more points in the championship. He did well to bring his car home in P4 though. We now look forward to Monza and hopefully can come away from there with a healthier haul of points.”
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
“Today was a messy, incident filled race where we ultimately weren’t quick enough to fight for the top three, but as a team we got the important decisions correct. Both drivers lost places on the opening lap which made life more difficult. We benefited from the early Safety Car though. George was able to move ahead of Charles (Leclerc), and Kimi made several places across the stops and took the restart in P8.
“George had been struggling with a lack of front grip, and he lost a place with the contact after the Virtual Safety Car restart with Charles. More annoyingly, he picked up a large amount of damage and that hurt him for the remainder of the race. We therefore asked George to let Kimi through, and he was able to close on the Ferrari. We decided to convert to a two stop and attempt the undercut; Ferrari covered and after they came together at Turn 3 Kimi picked up damage and a penalty. That basically put him out of the points, but it was good that George was able to bring his damaged car home in P4. We’ll work hard to achieve a cleaner more competitive weekend at Monza in a few days’ time.”
