Wolff saw Russell's sanction unfair for ruining Sainz's career

Carlos Sainz took a brilliant pole position at Austin on Saturday, but his hopes of turning it into a big result were dashed at the first corner when Russell took him ahead and spun him.

The Spaniard fell to the back of the pack, and managed to bring the Ferrari to the pits, but the team discovered a fault with the radiator and had to retire. Race direction wasted no time in communicating a five-second penalty to the British driver to be added at his next pitstop, and that’s when the debate began about the appropriateness of that punishment.

And while it is a majority opinion that it may be cheap to receive just five seconds for destroying a rival’s race, in Mercedes they consider that, in fact, a penalty was not necessary. This was defended by Toto Wolff , the team manager, who did not hesitate to describe it as a career set.

“I think the Turn 1 incident is a racing incident where maybe, if I was a stewards, I would think that George slammed on the brakes at the last minute, had a little bit of understeer whiplash and then Carlos screeched down really hard, I don’t know if for some Max power issue or not,” Wolff detailed. “So it’s a shame, but we have to accept the five seconds.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, the rest of the through the first corner

1 / 15

Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, the rest of the through the first corner

2 / 15

Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, the rest of the through the first corner

3 / 15

Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

George Russell, Mercedes W13, Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR22, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36, Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo C42, the rest of the field while Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, spins on the first lap

4 / 15

Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR22, George Russell, Mercedes W13, Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR22, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36, the rest of the pack as Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, spins on the first lap

5 / 15

Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR22, George Russell, Mercedes W13, Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR22, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36, the rest as Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, spins in the opening

6 / 15

Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, the field as Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, spins into the first corner

7 / 15

Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, the field as Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, spins into the first corner

8 / 15

Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, the field as Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, spins into the first corner

9 / 15

Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR22, George Russell, Mercedes W13, the rest of the grid as Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, spins on the first lap

10 / 15

Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR22, George Russell, Mercedes W13, the rest of the grid as Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, spins on the first lap

11 / 15

Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR22, George Russell, Mercedes W13, the rest of the field as Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, spins on the first lap

12 / 15

Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Alex Albon, Williams FW44, Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT03, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL36, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, the rest of the group while Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, spins in the first round

13 / 15

Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, George Russell, Mercedes W13

14/15

Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, spins at the first corner of the first lap

15 / 15

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

In turn, the Austrian admitted that he thought his driver, like the Ferrari driver, would have to leave after that accident. In contrast, George Russell only dropped a few positions and continued, albeit with a damaged car.

“The way he hit it we were surprised it wasn’t a DNF. We saw the front wing at the end of the race and it was badly damaged. Not just the front wing endplate, but also underneath, and that’s the most critical aerodynamic part, so from then on I already had a single-seater that was not capable of more”.

Some statements that contrast with those of Russell himself, who apologized on social networks with Sainz admitting that it was his own “miscalculation”. Carlos, for his part, had said that Russell had reached that curve “like a madman”.

And when asked about the penalty, Sainz said that a penalty was fair, without wanting to assess whether it was light or not: “Of course he deserved a penalty. But I deserved five, ten seconds or a stop and go , I’m not going To evaluate”.

Russell got a fifth place in that United States GP that gave him 11 points, so now he leads Sainz 16 in the fight for fourth place in the drivers’ world championship, a position that the Ferrari driver seemed to be reaching on Sunday .

In turn, Mercedes still aspires to be second in the constructors’ world championship, and although Ferrari’s advantage is 53 points, the fight is still alive.