Calls for Toto Wolff to be sacked after Mercedes disaster

Mercedes decided not to immediately pit following an early downpour at the 2023 Dutch GP.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has come under fire from fans of the team, following a disappointing Dutch Grand Prix for the Brackley-based side.

The Silver Arrows showed strong pace at Zandvoort in both dry and wet conditions, which the race saw several changes of.

With George Russell starting in third, Mercedes had a great chance at a podium, whereas it was always expected that the race would be difficult for Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton was eliminated in Q2 and started in 13th, although he did recover to finish sixth.

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Russell on the other hand, finished P17 after being forced to pit in the closing stages.

A collision with Lando Norris saw Russell suffer a puncture, which resulted in the former Williams driver having to limp back to the pits.

He lost several positions as a result and exited the pits in P17, marking a disappointing afternoon.

The stewards decided that no investigation was necessary into the incident, which did appear to just be a racing incident.

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That wasn’t the only incident for Russell, who almost crashed at Turn 6 in dramatic fashion.

Russell touched a white line and somehow saved his car from spinning, in what’ll go down as one of the saves of the season.

It occurred on Lap 59 whilst in seventh, directly ahead of Lewis Hamilton in eighth.

Russell was on old Hard tyres whilst Hamilton was on fresh Softs, with the seven-time World Champion having been much faster.

It took Mercedes a long time to implement team orders, something which fans of the team weren’t impressed by.

Mercedes’ fans also weren’t happy at how long it took the team to pit both drivers for Intermediate tyres, following a sudden downpour at the end of the first lap.

Had Mercedes pitted both drivers on the second or third lap like most other teams, then a podium would’ve been on the cards.

Wolff has seemingly been blamed by most for Mercedes’ blunder, with Mercedes fan @F1_Jordan having written on social media: “I’ve had enough now. Toto Wolff needs to be ousted by Ineos / Mercedes if this team wants to move forward.”

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Other fans agreed with this opinion.

“100% agreed, even d’Ambrosio would do a better job at this point honestly,” commented @DetlaSk.

“Exactly! Clearly he has no clue,” said StarGroove2.