Wolff launches Mercedes investigation amid Russell admission at Belgian GP

29 July 2023 , 11:10

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Mercedes Team Principle Toto Wolff has been speaking about his team (Image: Getty Images)

Toto Wolff has revealed Mercedes will investigate the difference in rear wings used by George Russell and Lewis Hamilton during Belgian Grand Prix qualifying.

Hamilton decided to go for the low-downforce specification wing, while Russell opted for a higher-downforce example, with both drivers now locked into those requirements.

Following Max Verstappen's five-place grid penalty, Hamilton will move up from fourth to third ahead of the race on Sunday. Meanwhile, Russell finished eighth in qualifying, nearly 0.8 seconds down on his teammate.

Speaking after qualification on Friday, Mercedes Team Principle Wolff admitted his team will look at how Hamilton and Russell's car differ heading into the race at Spa-Francorchamps.

"They ran very different rear wing configurations, and you can see that Lewis is just able to extract more performance from it," Wolff told Sky Sports F1. "[George] has a bit of a barn door on the back, and that can be advantageous for tyre performance on Sunday.

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"But it didn't help [in qualifying] so we need to assess why it didn't. P3 [on the grid] is good, and you can see that is is pretty bunched up (with less than a second separating Charles Leclerc in second and Lance Stroll in 10th).

"We couldn't properly assess if our [new] parts are working because of the tricky conditions, so let's hope for a dry Saturday and Sunday."

George Russell was eighth in qualifying (Getty Images)

As for the remainder of qualifying, three Formula 1 drivers will start Sunday's Grand Prix one place higher after Kevin Magnussen was handed a post-qualifying grid penalty.

The Dane qualified 13th on the road during the session. And it meant he out-performed team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, who has been quick over one lap this season but suffered a hydraulics issue.

However, Magnussen will actually start the race 16th on the grid. He was slapped with a three-place grid penalty after the session for impeding Charles Leclerc during qualifying.

In an official document, the stewards ruled: "Magnussen left the track at turn nine and made contact with the wall. He then rejoined and drove the dry line. Leclerc, who was on a fast lap, caught Magnussen who did not give way until turn 16.

"Magnussen explained that he did not feel it was safe to move off onto the wet at speed and give room to Leclerc, particularly in the turns between 11 and 15. The Stewards observed that he did not receive a warning from his team that Leclerc was behind until Leclerc was right behind him at turn 10. The team also told him to push, as he needed to make it to the line to get another lap.

"Whether it was his failure to slow and yield following his accident, or whether it was the team's failure to give information early enough that he could have pulled off earlier, or whether it was the instruction to push through the lap; in any case the Stewards determine that he unnecessarily impeded Leclerc."

Kieran King