Mercedes fears a cost cap breach after George Russell's crash

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed the team fears exceeding its $135 million cost cap after George Russell crashed in qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix, destroying his upgrade package and forcing him to to fall back on the W15 according to Silverstone specifications. The team boss therefore emphasized that Mercedes had to be innovative when using the new improvements to the car.

What made the problem worse was Andrea Kimi Antonelli's accident in the first free practice session at Monza, which caused significant damage to Russell's car. The F2 driver is expected to take over from Lewis Hamilton next year when the seven-time world champion moves to Ferrari. A few weeks later, the Austin incident destroyed Russell's new ground and forced him to revert to the previous version. Fortunately, the British rider is expected to receive the updated ground for the upcoming race in Brazil.

Wolff explained that Russell's accidents at the US and Mexican Grands Prix were a major setback as the repairs required numerous new parts. Therefore, Mercedes will only bring two new floors for this weekend's São Paulo Grand Prix, as installing more parts would mean exceeding the set limit. He told the media after the Mexico City GP:

“I love it when a driver pushes and I would rather bring him down and we know what the car is capable of than not.

“The cost cap plan is still a delicate situation. So these three chunks put us behind. Certainly what happened before yesterday was huge.

“We had to change, we had to choose a completely new chassis. The cost cap is extremely high and we will probably have to reduce the cost of the car.

“So we will have two upgrade packages in Brazil. Two floors, but that's basically it, there's nothing else.

“We have certain limitations in the areas where we have to be creative.

“Can we do this? It certainly has an impact on how many development parts we can fit into the car, because the answer is zero.”

Amid reports that Hamilton will be switching back to the old floorpan on his W15 as he feels comfortable with the older package, it could just be Russell who will be driving the new floorpan. Wolff revealed that he is open to the drivers' preferences. He said:

“I’m always open to the drivers’ opinions.

“If I am sure that George will choose the new ground and Lewis may want to go straight back to the old ground in Brazil, we will definitely talk to him about his preferences.”

Despite the cost cap issues, Wolff is confident he won't have to get involved when both Mercedes drivers engage in close duels on track, as was seen at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez last weekend. He added:

“They are so good and so experienced that we allow the race.

“At first I have no doubt. I didn't have the feeling it would come to that [a[ bit hairy.

“I think we made the call to George where it was clear that Lewis had the faster car.

“Maybe that one defence [from Russell] was a little late on the straight. I have no doubt about that.”