Toto Wolff Explains What Went Wrong With George Russell’s Mercedes at Japanese GP

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed the issues that hampered George Russell's Japanese Grand Prix weekend.

The British driver entered the third round of the Formula 1 season four points ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli, but leaves trailing the Italian, with the teenager taking pole position and the win at Suzuka.

Both drivers had been largely equal across the Friday practice sessions, but a set-up tweak ahead of qualifying left Russell on the back foot, with Antonelli taking pole by three-tenths, and the Australian Grand Prix winner struggled with the rear end of his W17.

And with parc ferme enforced between qualifying and the race, there was no way to remedy the misstep in direction.

George Russell, Mercedes, Japanese GP 2026 — George Russell, Mercedes | Mercedes-Benz Media

Mercedes' mistake

"The mistake that was made collectively in qualifying really put him on the back foot with the car," Wolff told Sky Sports UK. "It transformed the car that was good for pole position. Between the two, it was pretty narrow.

"Then obviously from Q1, it wasn't good enough anymore and he had to fight with that too today. So I think on equal cars, it's going to be close as ever. But that's exactly on the moment where it was about going fast."

Russell had put a poor start behind him to climb back to second ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and set about trying to pressure then-leader Oscar Piastri, opting to stop later than the McLaren driver.

Debriefing a tricky day in the office with the Boss 🐺 pic.twitter.com/6IguMXNLWQ
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When he did pit, he came out behind the Australian but lost ground when a safety car was called on his outlap, both being jumped by Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton.

Though the seven-time champion fell backwards after the restart, Antonelli dominated to take his second win in succession and become the first teenager to lead a championship.

On the turning point of the race, Wolff explained: "We had to decide to protect the position against Leclerc, I believe. And Kimi was still putting in proper times. So that made the difference. But I guess he had a car that wasn't perfect."

There was a short scare for Russell as he battled to try and overtake Hamilton after the restart, with his Mercedes slowing on the run to Spoon and falling behind Leclerc, a position he would ultimately fail to regain.

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Problems for Russell...

He's dropped behind Leclerc and is down to fifth #F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/Spt9uzIiw9
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 29, 2026

"It was a bug in the electric system, in the software, that we thought we were going to give him an advantage by deploying energy," said Wolff.

"And what it gave him is a super clip that means it slows the car down. This is where he unexpectedly lost the position to Leclerc. So we haven't covered ourselves in glory when it comes to George's race as well."