George Russell’s victory at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday could be viewed as a return to order after Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari were triumphant in Barcelona. However, all three podium finishers were covered by only two seconds when they crossed the Red Bull Ring’s finish line. While Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is willing to admit that his team is under threat, he doesn’t believe that Ferrari will be part of that equation.
Red Bull Racing debuted a significant upgrade package for the team’s home round, but the team couldn’t fully capitalize on its performance gains. Max Verstappen crashed during his final qualifying lap, sinking him to fifth on the grid. Thankfully, he didn’t threaten to retire this time. The incident also provoked a separate controversy because Russell’s pole lap came as he drove past the wrecked Red Bull. The Mercedes driver didn’t correctly lift off the throttle for a yellow flag, but race officials arguably should have thrown double yellows or a red flag for the heavy crash.
Ultimately, Verstappen finished second on Sunday. The four-time world champion spent his final stint closing the gap to Russell up the road while Kimi Antonelli was in hot pursuit behind him. We can only speculate how the Grand Prix would have played out if Verstappen started third instead of fifth, but Red Bull’s week-to-week pace is closing in on the Silver Arrows.
Toto Wolff swears that Ferrari will run out of money
Red Bull are undeniably a potential title threat should Verstappen go on a hot streak like last season. Ferrari, on the other hand, are still viewed as a flash in the pan. Lewis Hamilton and Charles did qualify second and third, but the team committed to a flawed three-stop strategy. In the bigger picture, the Italian team hasn’t managed three race victories in a row since 2019.
Toto Wolff views Ferrari’s current rate of development as unsustainable. Money was no object in Maranello historically, but there is now a cost cap and restrictions on aerodynamic development time. The Mercedes team principal doesn’t have any inside information. He’s just making an assessment based on what he’s able to do in Brackley compared to the torrent of new parts Ferrari is bringing to the track. After the race, Wolff said:
“The only ones who are not slowing down is Ferrari. I mean, between McLaren, Red Bull and ourselves, you can see we had one big one that we introduced in Montreal. We have small parts that come in between. I think the same for Red Bull and McLaren. It’s just Ferrari, who seems to be limitless in that way.”
Drivers and fans might rue the fact that there aren’t equal cars in Formula 1, but the development war adds a layer of intrigue throughout the season. The best car might win nine times out of ten, but the best car in March might be third by November. Mercedes have a one-two lead in the drivers’ championship standings with Antonelli and Russell sitting on 171 and 131 points, respectively. However, Hamilton is lurking right behind them with 125 points. If Ferrari plays their cards right, they could make Toto nervous.
