Wolff makes confession following 'really bad' United States GP

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff wasn’t particularly impressed with the United States Grand Prix.

Speaking to GPblog at the end of the race, the Austrian said: “Not every football game, not every Formula 1 race can be super exciting. There are races that can be a little bit dull because of the layout of the circuit, the performance, the small performance differences between cars and all of that — the tyres.”

Wolff believes that all these factors contributed to a race that was not particularly exciting overall, especially in terms of overtaking: “Everything interacts, so that’s why I think we had a race today that was… really bad. That played the overarching role for not great overtaking.”

Finally, about Mercedes race, Wolff added: “I think our car had the pace, but the moment you’re just behind anybody else in the dirty air, there’s no way to overtake.”

Toto Wolff - Photo: Race Pictures

Mercedes lose ground in the fight for second in the Constructors’

After their surprise win in Singapore — despite the W16 not being particularly suited to hot conditions — George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were unable to replicate that form at COTA, with Russell finishing only sixth and the Italian failing to score points.

Antonelli’s race, however, was heavily compromised by an early collision with Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard clipped the Italian’s rear-left tyre at Turn 15, sending him into a spin and effectively ruining his race. Sainz was later handed a post-race penalty, which will also carry repercussions into this weekend’s event in Mexico.

As for Mercedes, the Silver Arrows dropped valuable points in the Constructors’ standings to a resurgent Ferrari, who delivered a strong all-round performance in Austin.

Read also

Hamilton sits out FP1 in Mexico, Ferrari confirms

F1 Tech | Why Verstappen is now a concrete threat to McLaren

How Verstappen can still claim the 2025 title with five races to go

GPblog's latest F1 Paddock Update

Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the F1 paddock? Then GPblog's F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog's YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.