F1 News: Toto Wolff Calls Out The FIA For Investigating George Russell After The Japanese GP - 'It's Crazy!'

Saajan Jogia | Apr 7, 2024

From left, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, meets with Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Team Principal / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman /

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has called out the FIA for its "ridiculous" and "crazy" investigation on George Russell for forcing McLaren driver Oscar Piastri off the track during the Japanese Grand Prix. The surprise reaction comes from the Mercedes boss since no contact was made between the two drivers, as per him.

Key Takeaways:

• Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff criticizes the FIA's investigation of George Russell for forcing McLaren driver Oscar Piastri off the track during the Japanese Grand Prix.
• The incident occurred when Russell attempted to pass Piastri at Suzuka's chicane, resulting in potentially slight contact that forced Piastri off-track.
• Despite the incident, both drivers were summoned for a stewards' inquiry but no penalties were imposed as agreed by the stewards and team representatives.

The race at Suzuka showcased intense battles among the cars, with one notable moment occurring on Lap 50. Russell attempted to pass Piastri at Suzuka's chicane, leading to a slight contact between the two drivers. This forced Pisatri to go off-track, prompting a chicane cut to avoid a collision.

Despite the setback, Russell executed a successful overtake on Piastri for seventh place on the final lap. However, both drivers were summoned for a second stewards' inquiry of the weekend, after a qualifying incident on Saturday.

Mercedes AMG Petronas driver George Russell takes video of the crowd during driver engagements in / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman /

In their ruling, the stewards acknowledged that the incident posed several challenges in reaching a decision. The panel of four stewards accepted that Russell did not aggressively attempt to overtake at the chicane and maintained control of his Mercedes, thus deserving racing space.

However, he collided with the inside kerb, leading to contact with Piastri, who wisely opted for evasive action to avoid a potentially more severe collision. Despite the incident, Russell was found to have provided adequate room for Piastri to navigate Turn 16 safely upon rejoining the track. Eventually, the stewards concluded that both drivers and their team representatives "agreed this incident did not warrant the imposition of any penalty."

However, Wolff is of the opinion that an incident of this scale should not have attracted an investigation in the first place. He told Sky Sports Deutschland:

"It's completely ridiculous to investigate this.

“I usually don't agree 100 per cent or not, but at the end of the day there was no contact and no gain in terms of position. So it's crazy.”

From left, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, meets with Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Team Principal / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman /