Watch: Toto Wolff breaks silence on drama over compromising George Russell’s P6 in favor of Lewis Hamilton at Imola

He was immediately told no over the team radio and when this was put in front of Toto Wolff during the post-race interview, he had the following to say.

Well we haven't spoken but his (Russell's) lap times were getting slower and slower and our forecast was saying he's not gonna make it to the end and we didn't want to lose the position to Perez. Toto Wolff said in an post race interview

When specifically asked about Russell saying can I have my sixth place back, the German added:

Lewis would have probably taken him anyway but the point being that we are racing for P6 and P7 and we at least wanted to keep the Red Bull behind. Toto Wolff said in the same interview

Mercedes’s 2024 challenger, the W15 is nowhere near the kind of performance the lights McLaren, Ferrari, and the mighty Red Bull are able to extract out of their machinery. Wolff and Co. have a lot of work ahead of them as there are still a truckload of races left in the 2024 season.

George Russell claims he’s ‘not gonna sulk’ over a P6 finish

During the Emilia-Romagna GP George Russell was asking for his sixth place back, but at the end of the day, he sees the bigger picture. He understands that for a team like Mercedes, a sixth and seventh-place finish is of no use.

The 26-year-old has been driving for the Brackley-based team since 2022.

You’re never gonna be happy with a P6 and a P7. At the end of the day as a team we scored one extra point, I lost my position to Lewis but I’m not gonna sulk over losing a P6, to be honest. This is where we are right now, a little bit of a no man’s land behind the McLarens and Ferraris, and ahead of the midfield. George Russell said in post race interview

The ongoing campaign is seven rounds down and ahead of Monaco, the Mercedes outfit finds itself in fourth place in the Constructors Championship. Wolff and Co. have so far managed to amass 79 points and they’re nowhere near the top three teams. They desperately need a breakthrough with the W15 to get back into the fight at the front end of the grid.