Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff expressed his frustration, labeling the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as their “worst performance” of the 2025 season so far. This came after neither George Russell nor Kimi Antonelli were able to challenge for podium positions during the race.
Russell, who started from third place, saw his performance decline as the race progressed, despite having entered Sunday`s event with hopes of battling at the front. Following his pit stop for hard tyres, the British driver lost a significant 20 seconds, ultimately finishing 27 seconds behind race winner Oscar Piastri.
Russell attributed the performance drop to the tyres. “It was all about the tyres. They were massively overheating,” he commented. He explained that while he pushed hard to keep pace with Max Verstappen early in the second stint, he quickly realized he couldn`t maintain the performance. “We fell off a cliff at the end. I was dropping a second per lap in the last 15 laps. We just didn`t have the pace and even if I managed more, I would have been fifth.” Despite the difficulties, Russell acknowledged the result: “Coming home in fifth on a bad day, we take it, but we need to improve it quickly.”
Wolff was perplexed by the team`s severe tyre issues, particularly as other teams like Ferrari, Red Bull, and McLaren seemed to gain pace throughout the race. He stated, “Clearly our worst performance so far from the year. The pace just dropped away with a blistering tyre and overheating tyres, and so far we haven`t got the explanations.” He added that seeing the race unfold this way, after setting expectations to be at least the second-quickest team, “just adds to the frustration of the situation.”
Russell on Tyre Degradation Challenges
Although George Russell didn`t achieve a podium finish in Saudi Arabia, he continued his consistent performance streak by finishing in the top five in every race this season. He currently sits 26 points behind the new championship leader, Oscar Piastri.
The tyre degradation issues encountered in Jeddah were unexpected, especially considering Mercedes had not faced similar problems at other tyre-demanding tracks like China or Bahrain, which left Russell somewhat puzzled.
He speculated on the cause: “It`s more about how fast we are going through these corners and for whatever reason we are generating more temperature than our rivals.” Russell described the state of the tyres dramatically: “Suddenly you get to a point and the tyre is like a balloon. We had blistering on the front and rear, then we had no grip.” He emphasized the need to understand the discrepancy: “We need to understand why Bahrain was so positive because that`s also an overheating track, but a very different type of overheating to what you experience in Jeddah.” Russell concluded, “We had high hopes for Saudi Arabia but it turned out the opposite, so it`s something we need to understand.”
Antonelli Reflects on the Race
Kimi Antonelli finished the race only seven seconds behind George Russell and, in contrast to his teammate, did not experience significant tyre problems towards the end of the event. The 18-year-old driver noted the positive aspect of his race: “The last 10 to 15 laps were pretty positive.”
However, Antonelli admitted to difficulties in the earlier stages: “The first stint I need to review because I was struggling with the balance and the front tyre dropped quite easily, so I had to pit earlier compared to the others.” He added, “Then I had to manage a lot more on the hard, but the last 10 laps I was able to push and it was nice to see the pace was up there.” Antonelli also had a couple of moments brushing the wall, describing them as “really scary.”
Despite appearing fatigued after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Antonelli has consistently demonstrated pace relatively close to Russell and is emerging as a standout rookie after the first five rounds of the season. He viewed the recent consecutive races (“triple-header”) as a valuable test, challenging him “physically and mentally.” Antonelli noted, “Three completely different tracks, situations, so it was good to experience that.” He identified areas for improvement, stating, “I need to work on open tarmac where the degradation is higher.” Nonetheless, he was satisfied with his tyre management in the second part of the race. Antonelli plans to use the upcoming week off to process the information and “come back stronger.”
Wesley Dunham 
Gilbert Pendleton