What the teams said – Race day at the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix

Mercedes

Antonelli got here into Flip 3 a bit scorching after recognizing a niche on the within, and locked up. That despatched him straight on and whereas he managed to keep away from Lawson, he couldn’t keep away from the Crimson Bull of Verstappen. He hit the RB21 arduous sufficient to ship each Verstappen and himself into speedy retirement – however held his palms up and apologised instantly. He was handed a three-place grid drop for the subsequent race.

Russell picked off Hamilton into Flip 1, however misplaced the place again fairly shortly. On a scorching day, his Mercedes dropped again from the Ferraris as he couldn’t maintain tempo on the market. Fifth was a case of injury limitation on a weekend that didn’t appear to play to his group’s strengths.

George Russell, fifth

“This Austrian Grand Prix weekend simply confirmed the place our strengths and weaknesses are with the W16. When it’s too scorching, we are inclined to underperform, and we actually wrestle to maintain up with the leaders’ tempo. P5 was due to this fact the utmost we may have carried out right now. Ending 60 seconds away from the profitable driver in Lando (Norris) reveals the work we have to do. Fortunately, we all know the areas the place we have to enhance and we might be working arduous in the direction of this.

“We now shortly transfer on to subsequent weekend. Silverstone final 12 months was a extremely good race. We received pole place and confirmed good potential earlier than our retirement. The group tends to do rather well on the British Grand Prix so hopefully we are able to replicate that after once more. We have now our fingers crossed that the circumstances might be barely cooler than this weekend and we are able to get again within the battle for the rostrum.”

Kimi Antonelli, DNF

“I’m very dissatisfied with how right now performed out. After the lights went out, I used to be simply making an attempt to take care of my beginning place however made a mistake coming into Flip Three and that price me quite a bit. I didn’t brake too late however after making an attempt to keep away from Liam (Lawson) I locked the rear brakes. I then locked the entrance brakes too and couldn’t keep away from the crash with Max (Verstappen).

“We didn’t get to see how our race would have performed out so apologies to the group. I additionally need to apologize to Max for ruining his race too. This was an enormous mistake, and I do know we may have fought for end result with out it. Fortunately, we’ve received a race immediately subsequent weekend, so our full focus is already on Silverstone.”

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“At present was not how we wished issues to go. The error made by Kimi was unlucky, however that is what racing is. We now must analyse what occurred to grasp higher why the tyres locked the way in which they did. It was a disgrace for Kimi, us as a group, and likewise for Max (Verstappen) too, however that is simply a part of racing generally.

“George in the meantime had a lonely race. He finally maximised the automobile we had right now, however he was not threatened by these behind however neither had the tempo to problem the Ferraris or McLarens forward. The limiting elements for us are a extra abrasive asphalt, longer corners and excessive temperatures. That’s what we confronted right now however the hole we noticed right now was too massive to cut back it right down to these three parts alone. We are going to have a look at all the info and discover options. Happily, we get again racing immediately subsequent weekend. We’re extra assured heading there because the decrease temperatures ought to assist us carry out higher and we have now been aggressive at Silverstone in recent times.”

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

“It’s a disgrace that Kimi’s race received lower brief at Flip Three. He locked the rear axle going into the nook, tried to keep away from the automobiles forward however sadly locked the entrance brakes too and bumped into Max (Verstappen). This sadly marked the tip of his race in Austria.

“On the opposite aspect of the storage, George struggled quite a bit along with his tyre degradation. The circumstances have been a lot hotter than what we had in Free Observe and managing his tyres fastidiously was the one alternative he was left with. The excessive temperatures right here simply confirmed the place our weak point is once more, and we are going to work actually arduous to unravel this for the upcoming races.

“After struggling this a lot in scorching races, we now have a greater understanding of the place we stand and what must be carried out to carry out higher. The subsequent few days will see intense work from the group and hopefully we will battle for a podium in Silverstone.”