Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admitted the team would “have to take it on the chin” regarding George Russell’s disqualification from the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.
Russell crossed the start/finish line fractionally ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday, executing a clever one-stop strategy to take what would have been his third GP victory.
Alas, Russell’s victory was short-lived as his Mercedes W15 was found to be 1.5kg underweight and therefore illegal.
Wolff spoke to media shortly before the disqualification was made final and with the decision obvious at that stage, Wolff looked to the positives.
“You have to take it on the chin,” he said.
“One, two would have been a great result going into the summer break. It couldn’t go any better.
“The positives, the very positives that we can take from this race is that we had two cars that were the benchmark in this race with two different strategies.
“And who would have said that a few months ago? And that is really good to see.”
Such was Mercedes’ prowess on Sunday, losing the race with one car meant the squad still secured victory with Hamilton.
An impressive run of form has seen Mercedes secure three wins in the last four races, putting the team in a good place to compete for further victories after the summer shutdown.
Wolff, however, wants to ensure his team remains grounded amid its revival.
“I think we need to remain with both feet on the ground,” he said.
“The swings of performance, I mean, you see a trend. Definitely that’s positive on our side. With some other teams, you see a negative trend.
“But I don’t think we should really preempt how the second half of the season is going to go.
“I think it’s a tough fight. There’s four teams ahead. They’re giving it everything.
“So I think we can be carefully optimistic. But you know, we’ve got to prove it. There’s 10 races to go.”
With those 10 races remaining, Mercedes finds itself fourth in the Constructors’ standings on 266 points and with ground to cover on the top three of Red Bull (408), McLaren (366) and Ferrari (345).
Admittedly, Russell’s disqualification has hampered the team’s efforts to claw back the gap to the rivals ahead, but Mercedes’ current form, should it not slow down post-summer break, could see the Brackley-based outfit challenge Ferrari at the very least for third in the Constructors’ standings.
