F1 News: Toto Wolff tells Mercedes F1 star to take 'responsibility' for crash

Toto Wolff during press conference — Photo: © IMAGO

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Wolff tells Mercedes F1 star to take 'responsibility' for crash

Toto Wolff shares his verdict on Australian GP crash

Shay Rogers

Sunday 7 April 2024 20:57

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Toto Wolff has shared an interesting view on Fernando Alonso and George Russell’s last lap incident at the Australian Grand Prix.

Wolff’s driver – Russell, was left stranded in the middle of the track after he lost control in Alonso’s dirty air and hit the barriers hard.

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But the stewards deemed that Alonso was at fault for ‘potentially dangerous’ driving, after data revealed that he broke 100 metres earlier into the corner – in a bid to stall Russell’s momentum.

Despite a 20-second penalty which carried a demotion to eighth place, the Spaniard disagreed with the verdict and most of the drivers’ views have been very split since the decision to hold the two-time champion accountable was made.

Fernando Alonso was handed a 20-second time penalty

The remains of George Russell's car after the crash

What was Toto Wolff verdict on the crash?

It’s something that even Mercedes boss Toto Wolff showed a hint of remorse towards Alonso for, saying that his own driver needs to take ‘part of responsibility’ for having crashed his car.

"You can hear the drivers, they obviously understand much more on a track that I've never raced on, and they're split," Wolff told the media.

"I think Fernando was aggressively defending by trying to take out the momentum before the corner, and maybe he's overdone it.

George Russell was OK after his crash in Melbourne

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"George was just trying to [set up] an overtake there, but [he] also takes a certain part of responsibility for having lost the car there,” he continued.

"So what I make of this accident, I think in these high-speed corners, maybe you need to take a little bit of the karting philosophy of killing speed before the corner to have a better exit. But who am I to say?

"I'm not sitting in that car, I've never been on that level, so I'm just an observer and I look at the data and throttle and brake input, and that was very different on that lap to all the others."