Toto Wolff, the Mercedes principal, admitted the team let George Russell down during the Belgian Grand Prix, where Russell failed to score any points after a clash with teammate Lewis Hamilton. This incident significantly impacted Russell's championship ambitions, as he now trails Kimi Antonelli by 50 points.

The race took a turn when Russell was clipped by Hamilton on the opening lap, sending him into the gravel and ending his race prematurely. Russell described the incident as a racing occurrence but emphasized that he wouldn’t have been in that position had his Mercedes performed better, particularly in electrical energy deployment, which he criticized throughout the weekend.

Wolff acknowledged the issues, stating:

We had an issue on all Mercedes engines that we lacked the power out on the straights. That bit him [Russell] badly and it goes 100% on us.

He expressed full support for Russell, highlighting that the disappointing result was due to both mechanical shortcomings and the mistakes made by the team. Wolff stated:

Half of it is to be attributed to the power unit that wasn’t as good as it should have been and the other half may be on the driving.

Russell voiced his disappointment, feeling numb after the race and insisting he shouldn’t have been competing for position with the Ferraris. Wolff acknowledged Russell's frustration, recognizing the emotional toll of being out of the race.

Hamilton received a five-second penalty from the stewards for his role in the incident but regarded it as a racing incident and expressed a desire to communicate with Russell, stating:

I will text George later on. The last thing you ever want to do is come together with your teammate.