SINGAPORE (AP) — Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says any claims the team would favor Kimi Antonelli over George Russell in the Formula 1 title race are “brainless”.
Wolff was responding after engine failure for Russell at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia last week took his teammate Antonelli a big step closer to becoming F1's youngest-ever champion.
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“They’re brainless, whoever thinks that. I mean, it’s completely nonsensical. We’ve had it in the past with Lewis (Hamilton) fans. I mean, literally, I don’t know what’s going on,” Wolff said Friday ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.
“Do they think I have a button that says, “George engine failure now”, or disadvantaging one driver against the other when we are fighting for a constructors’ championship, when we have always had the mindset of providing everybody equal material? But I guess this is maybe where social media goes today.”
Wolff said he found it funny to be painted as a villain on social media — “I'm Satan, I've heard” — but frustrating to be criticized by fans who, he said, don't appreciate how well he and Russell get on away from the track.
“Really zero understanding and respect for people who come up with these things. They should, rather than watching Formula 1, they should do (kids' TV show) Teletubbies or some Mickey Mouse,” he said.
Russell's engine trouble in Malaysia means he has a grid penalty in Singapore for going over his allocation of power units for the season.
He's dropped 84 points behind Antonelli, who could in theory win the title at the United States Grand Prix later this month, if other results go his way.
Russell has said his plan for this week is “all-out attack”, even though overtaking is difficult on the Singapore street circuit.
Wolff said the team would continue with its strategy of favoring whichever driver is quicker at the time, rather than allowing Antonelli and Russell to battle on track and potentially help another team.
“Even if it is now that it’s more realistic for Kimi to win a championship in sheer mathematical probability, we would still give George the same opportunities, and that’s important,” he said.
“That’s the ethos and the integrity on which the team has operated since 2013, since I came, and we are going to stick to that. And then people can think what they want.”
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