The Mercedes F1 team had an erratic weekend at the Las Vegas GP. The team saw a Q1 exit before salvaging a double podium on the streets of Sin City. Team Principal Toto Wolff was delighted with the result and assessed both Kimi Antonelli and George Russell’s race.
Kimi Antonelli suffered a Q1 exit and started from position 17 for the race. Come race day, he made a false start and received a 5-second penalty. However, the team tried a bold strategy that ultimately paid off beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.
A stunning charge by Kimi Antonelli in the F1 Las Vegas GP
The rookie started on soft tyres and made an early box stop on lap two under virtual safety car to switch to hard tyres for what became a stunning 48-lap stint. When asked about the Italian’s performance and strategy during a print post-race media session, Wolff was complementary of the strategy and the rookie’s driving. He said:
“Starting P17 pretty much on the defence with an aggressive stop at the beginning, I’m not sure that we thought it was realistic at the beginning, but then he went quicker and quicker and quicker and cleared the graining, and at the end, a super well-deserved P5, even with the penalty.”
He added, “I don’t know what could that have been starting from a better position.”
Regarding the false start penalty, Wolff admitted the team couldn’t immediately identify the infringement.
“We couldn’t spot anything on the clutch, nor anything that would have pointed us to an irregular start, but you know the FIA have sensors, so let’s see what they said. For me, but I’m the only one here, seemed to have seen that there was a little bit of a movement, but it wasn’t definitely releasing the clutch or getting off the brake pedal.”
Wolff clarifies Russell’s chances for a victory at the F1 Las Vegas GP
George Russell’s weekend had its ups and downs. After showing decent pace during the wet qualifying sessions through Q1 and Q2, a power-steering malfunction struck during Q3. It cost him a genuine shot at pole position.
The same troubles came back a few laps into the race and he had to adapt his driving to it, although it turned out to be brief. When questioned about the recurring steering problem that had also plagued qualifying, Wolff confirmed:
“The steering wheel doesn’t come back when opening the wheel at the exit of the corner, and we need to see also what it was, because we changed the parts overnight, and it didn’t make a big difference.”
Following the first round of pitstops, Russell made an aggressive two-lap assault on Verstappen which destroyed his tyres. With fresher rubber, Lando Norris caught and passed the Mercedes driver on lap 34, though McLaren’s later disqualification elevated Russell back to second.
Could Russell have won the F1 Las Vegas GP?
Addressing whether Russell ever had a genuine chance of victory in the F1 Las Vegas GP, Wolff remained uncertain about what transpired with the tyre degradation.
“We either overstressed the tyres, right at the beginning being in Max’s tow, trying to overtake or trying to hold on, or, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see that, actually managed the tyres too much.
“Because when Kimi started graining came and the graining went away. So at that stage, I’m not able to say what actually happened on the tyres, but it could be either of.”
McLaren’s disqualification for excessive plank wear promoted Antonelli from fifth to third, giving Mercedes their second double podium of the season and making them the only team besides McLaren to achieve this in 2025. The result now leaves Mercedes 40 points ahead of Red Bull and 58 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors’ standings, strengthening their grip on the runners-up spot.
