'Toto Wolff's F1 nightmare continues with Antonelli in Barcelona'

After Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin stopped on track, which led to a Virtual Safety Car, Lewis Hamilton pulled away from the field, but second and third place were still on the table for Mercedes at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix last Sunday.

Antonelli was able to overtake George Russell and was running in second place when his Mercedes car suddenly stopped due to an electric shutdown. As a result, the championship leader missed out on what could be 18 important points in the battle for the title. He is currently 41 points ahead of Hamilton and 50 points ahead of Russell, who finished in second place.

It is not the first time Mercedes experienced mechanical issues either. The W17 stopped under Russell at the Canadian Grand Prix when fighting for the victory. McLaren, who buys power units from the German manufacturer, also experienced various issues with the engine.

After the race, Wolff said to media, including GPblog: "I'm underwhelmed. We can't DNF cars in a kind of regular or continued way, losing 25 points in the Constructors’ championship in Montreal and losing another 25 points or 18 points today, in order to finish first, first you have to finish. And reliability, this is what we need to get on top of. And that's number one. So nobody's happy about that, and we will leave no stone unturned to understand."

The Mercedes CEO and team principal would also rather not fight for the world title with Hamilton, as he perfectly knows what the seven-time F1 champion is capable of.

He added: "I'd rather not fight with him for a title. I'm not fine with him for a title because I know what he's capable of. If he smells blood, he goes. I've seen it many years where suddenly the train, the Lewis Hamilton train, started to go and then it's very difficult to stop it."

Asked whether an eighth world title for Hamilton is now a realistic possibility, Wolff replied: "Yes, absolutely. We are so early in the season. The gap is 41 points. You see a DNF, it robs you of 25 points, and it's wide open. That's why we can't afford not to finish. We need to just keep putting performance on the car and on the power unit, keep not making mistakes, be clever with the strategy, and stay absolutely on it."

Wolff also praised Hamilton and Ferrari after the conclusion of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. "Congratulations to Lewis. He's worked so hard. And has gone through so many difficult moments, particularly last year, that wholeheartedly I'm happy for him that he's won. I always said it's not ours to win, then it should be Lewis. And he deserved that.