Toto Wolff confirms Mercedes drivers meeting after Lewis Hamilton F1 defeat

Toto Wolff in Zandvoort — Photo: © IMAGO

Mercedes F1

Toto Wolff confirms Mercedes drivers meeting after Lewis Hamilton F1 defeat

Wolff lost out to his former driver in Barcelona

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Tuesday 16 June 2026 09:15 Updated: 09:30

Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff has vowed to meet with his drivers after Lewis Hamilton's resounding victory at the Barcelona Grand Prix.

In theory, the Barcelona Grand Prix was George Russell's to lose. The Brit started on pole and even made an excellent getaway from Hamilton on the race start, soon building up a healthy lead.

But thanks to Fernando Alonso and the reliably unreliable Aston Martin, a virtual safety car on lap 40 allowed Hamilton to make a cheap pit stop. The Ferrari star then emerged onto the track ahead of the two Mercedes and executed a three-stop strategy that his rivals had no answer for.

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Mercedes' pace wasn't helped, however, by Russell and Kimi Antonelli scrapping for position and in doing so sacrificing key time to Hamilton. Add into the mix Antonelli's engine failure three laps before the end? Well, the complexion of the 2026 drivers' championship looks a little different.

Naturally, Wolff was pleased to see Hamilton claim his 106th race win in red, but any joy was certainly eclipsed by his former driver closing the gap to Kimi Antonelli in the championship by 41 points.

Wolff unhappy with Mercedes in Barcelona

Mercedes' performance in Barcelona has given team principal Wolff cause for alarm, particularly in regards to the championship fight.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, Wolff stated it wasn't good enough to have a second car retiring every other race - and that there would be a meeting with his drivers over how hard they are racing.

"We just can't compete for a championship if every second race a car is losing fat points. It's one and then the other and to finish first, first you have to finish. That's just not good enough," Wolff said.

"We tried to race fair in the team game but maybe it cost us the win today, and that's something we need to discuss with the drivers, how are we doing it if we're fighting somebody else for a race win.

Russell and Antonelli - set for Toto Wolff talks.

"They raced each other quite hard before George's stop and I think we lost four, five, six seconds to Lewis, and then obviously with the VSC, it changed the order.

"George and Kimi racing hard [means] we're leaving lap time on the track and we need to discuss with them for the future."

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Mercedes George Russell Toto Wolff