Toto Wolff has drawn a clear line for Mercedes heading into the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix: race hard, but avoid contact at all costs. With George Russell on pole and Kimi Antonelli starting alongside Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, the team principal knows the opening laps could decide far more than just the result of one race.
The stakes are higher because Mercedes has already seen its two drivers collide this season, and Wolff is still mindful of the painful memory of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg taking each other out in the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. That history makes the first corner sequence in Barcelona feel especially sensitive for a team trying to protect both a win chance and its drivers.
Wolff’s Race Plan
Speaking to F1 TV, Wolff said the team is not interested in holding one driver back simply to preserve points. “I think they’re racing for a championship and Kimi will want to show that he’s the one. George wants a good result to say ‘I’m the one, don’t discount me’,” he said.
He added that the only non-negotiable is keeping the cars clean. “For me, the primary thing is no contact, but they’re starting behind each other. Kimi’s going to have a good slipstream – more grey hair!” Wolff said.
Wolff then pointed to the opening corners as the critical phase of the race, saying the team must “Get through Turn 1 and 2 and 3!” before arriving at the right-hander at Turn 4, where he recalled having “two cars stranded in the gravel bed” in 2016.
His broader view is that Mercedes cannot afford a conservative mindset when victory is on the line. “If you think conservatively, you need to think forwards and not start protecting points – it’s like a football team that starts to defend rather than attack. I think [Antonelli’s] going to be on the attack and that’s fine,” Wolff said.
Ferrari Adds Another Problem
Mercedes also faces pressure from Ferrari, after Hamilton produced a late flying lap in qualifying to take second place and split the Silver Arrows’ front-row threat. Ferrari brought further upgrades to Barcelona, and Hamilton appeared to make the most of them as he became the team’s sole frontrunner after Charles Leclerc crashed out of Q3.
Wolff said Ferrari’s pace cannot be dismissed, noting that Mercedes’ own calculations showed the Scuderia were “half a second off on a single lap” before the weekend turned in their favor. “Here they rebounded and I guess their upgrade is working – maybe they were running a bit heavier than us in previous sessions,” he said.
That leaves Mercedes preparing for a real fight rather than assuming control, even with Russell on pole. As Wolff put it, “We’ve got to fasten our seatbelts because that upgrade was massive. At the moment in cost cap land we can’t afford to do that, so they are proper challengers.”