Toto Wolff Slams Mercedes Team For ‘Catastrophic’ Strategy Calls At Dutch GP

Posted on August 27, 2023 | by Charley Williams Oooft. There’s nothing worse than being told off by your boss. Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff isn’t too happy with his team over the strategy calls made during the Dutch GP – but in fairness, his scathing review is aimed at himself, too.  George Russell isn’t the only one unimpressed with the calls to stay out on slick tyres during the Dutch GP. In the opening laps, an early downpour hit the circuit, and whilst many drivers dived into the pits to swap to inters, George wasn’t one of them – at least until lap four. Having very briefly led the race, he inevitably went tumbling down the order, going from P3 to an eventul P18, and venting on the radio: “I was forecast for a podium. F***, how did we mess this up?” Even after the race, George told the media: “As a team, we need to review because we’re getting the information coming into us, and it was misjudged, the weather. It’s not anything to do with racing or engineering, it was clear just a weather misinterpretation and that ruined our afternoon.” Toto Wolff agreed, telling Sky Sports F1: “I think we stayed out catastrophically too long because we got it completely wrong, and that’s annoying because the car had great pace. And then, from then on, it was just recovering as good as we could. “I’d rather have good pace, a fast race car and a mediocre result. Even if hurts, and we saw at the end on the inter, George had Max’s pace, and Lewis was very strong behind Sainz. We could have been much further ahead. But it’s still bittersweet because the result is just really bad, and it could have been, but it doesn’t count in that sport. “We will review thoroughly, and the situation is never one person or one department. It is the communications between drivers, pit wall, strategy, weather frog, and then all of us taking decisions. And that was absolutely sub-par from all of us, and that includes me. And yeah, we just need to… It’s good when it hurts. When it stings, it sticks.” George finished 17th after a coming together with Lando Norris, whilst Lewis Hamilton recovered to take home 6th. Do you agree with Toto’s scathing review of Mercedes’ Dutch GP?