Wolff knew from experience of racing Verstappen: 'Colliding was possible'

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Toto Wolff knew crash between Norris and Verstappen was possible in Austria
1 July at 15:00
Last update 1 July at 15:02
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  • Toby Nixon

Toto Wolff has been there before. The Austrian knows that tight battles involving Max Verstappen can often end in tears. In Austria, it did once again, as Lando Norris and Max Verstappen collided in the closing stages of the Austrian Grand Prix. Eventual race winner George Russell was around 15 seconds behind the pair when they collided at turn three. After Mercedes picked up their first win since the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2022, Wolff explained that he knew the possibility of a clash between the two was always there and had his team prepared.

After Russell's shock victory, Wolff told GPblog and other media present that Mercedes knew it was a possibility that the two would collide. After all, Wolff was a key figure in the infamous 2021 season. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collided on multiple occasions as tensions boiled over, most notably at Silverstone, Monza and Jeddah. Last weekend's race at the Red Bull Ring is reminiscent of that iconic Italian Grand Prix. Verstappen and Hamilton's first-corner incident left them both out of the race, and Daniel Ricciardo secured an unexpected victory in his McLaren.

"I think we were trying to be rational and we were en route for P3. And that is where the base of the car was and what George was able to extract. And that was a solid result," said Wolff, who was expecting a positive P3 finish for Russell.

Wolff: Collision between Verstappen and Norris was always a 'possibility'

"Obviously, then you see these two in the front driving each other hard. And we know they're really good friends and that was always it was fun to watch. This is how I perceived it at that stage. But then it got a bit more fierce and at a certain stage, and we said, well, it would be possible that they collide. And then it literally happened. We couldn't believe what we saw," explained the Austrian, who is encouraged by the improvement he has witnessed with the W15.

"On pace, we were third quick as well. We've been doing this for the last three weekends, and that is very encouraging to see that upward trend and the consolidation of the trend. But then racing happens on Sunday and sometimes we have been on the receiving end and today we benefited from the incident in the front. And it's just good to have that win in the pocket this year," concluded Wolff, who'll be preparing for Silverstone with his head held high.