Wolff spoke about Russell's engine problems.

      Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff spoke about the issues with the power unit that hindered George Russell at the recent Belgian Grand Prix.

      In qualifying, the British driver lost about four-tenths of a second to his teammate Kimi Antonelli only in the final sector, and during the race, he unexpectedly lost power exiting the first corner on the opening lap. As a result, Russell fell back and then collided with Lewis Hamilton, retiring from the race.

      According to Wolff, Russell's problems in qualifying and the race were caused by different reasons.

      Toto Wolff: "Throughout the weekend, George really had an engine issue. We found that because of this, he had less power available on the straight before the final chicane.

      It's good that we discovered the problem in Spa, as it would have been harder to identify in Budapest, where the track doesn't have such high energy consumption. This issue likely explains about half of his deficit to Kimi in qualifying.

      As for the race, all cars with Mercedes power units experienced a lack of power after the first corner. The problem affected not only George. To some extent, it also impacted Kimi. However, the issue was more pronounced in George's car, which is why he finished the straight not in third but in fifth.

      Thus, he lost two positions, and then the collision with Lewis occurred. It's a shame that George lost points in the drivers' standings and the team in the Constructors' Championship.

      The problem that arose during the race was new. We wouldn't have been able to detect it in the simulator, as it required specifically searching for such a malfunction."