‘The logical consequence’ – Wolff explains Mercedes’ decision to invert cars in Dutch Grand Prix

Toto Wolff has explained Mercedes’ call to invert their cars during the latter stages of the Dutch Grand Prix, with George Russell asked to allow Kimi Antonelli through into second place.

Antonelli had been running in P2 behind McLaren’s Lando Norris when a Virtual Safety Car was called in the final phase of the race, and the Italian was amongst those to take the opportunity to pit for fresher tyres.

This brought him back out on track in third – behind Norris and Russell, both of whom had opted to stay out during the VSC. On Lap 65 of 72, Mercedes informed Russell that they would switch the cars, a request that was initially met with a disgruntled response from Russell.

The Briton followed the order and allowed Antonelli through, but voiced his concern that the team might have “lost a double podium” as the Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc rapidly closed in.

As it was, Russell managed to keep both of the Scuderia’s cars at bay and finish in P3, with Antonelli retaining second place.

Quizzed on the thinking about the strategy call after the race, Wolff told F1 TV: “I think this is the policy that we always have, and we discussed it many times and also in the morning. We're not losing time with each other and having Ferraris breathing down our neck.

“Especially before the inverting, Kimi was ahead – he didn't need to pit, so George ended where he ended, with the threat of the Ferraris obviously. So the switch was the logical consequence.”

The Mercedes Team Principal went on to suggest that the weekend was “good and tough at times”, adding: “I think today we thought we had to pace to win the race and that ran away when we went onto the hard tyre.

“We don't understand why, but when you look at it from the bittersweet side, we finished with a P2 and P3. We outscored Ferrari in points, so that is okay.”

With Norris winning in Zandvoort, Wolff acknowledged that the competition will continue to be tight going forward.

“It's a development fight, and at the moment we are a bit stuck,” he explained. “We need to just keep on performing and executing well, because the upgrades are still a little bit away.”