Toto Wolff has now also responded to the latest altercation between Max Verstappen and George Russell. During the recent Spanish Grand Prix, the Dutchman appeared to deliberately collide with his Mercedes rival. This resulted in a hefty time penalty, causing him to drop back to P10. Wolff described Verstappen’s action as ‘incomprehensible’, but at the same time, he recognizes how such outbursts are characteristic of the greatest athletes.
“I only heard later that Max (Verstappen) had been instructed to let Russell pass,” Toto Wolff responded after the race. “I didn’t know that. We had the impression during the race that he was having problems and that’s why he was coming out of turn four so slowly.” Max’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, emphatically asked Verstappen to give back the position – the Dutchman reluctantly agreed, but not before giving Russell a nudge.
Psychology of Top Athletes
“If that was really a form of road rage from Verstappen – which I can hardly imagine, because it was so obvious – then that’s not good,” said Wolff. “The point is that I don’t know what he wanted. Did he want to let George (Russell) pass just to overtake him again immediately? Did he just want to position the car behind him to play DRS games later? To me, it’s just incomprehensible. But again, I don’t know exactly what his motives were. That’s why I don’t want to dismiss this as aggression right away.”
When asked about Verstappen’s mentality and his controversial behavior, Toto Wolff reflected on the psychology of great athletes. “I see a pattern,” said the Austrian. “The greats of the earth – whether in motorsport or other sports – just have to feel that the world is against them in order to perform at the highest level. That’s why they find it hard to acknowledge that the world isn’t always against you. You can also be the one who makes a mistake or messes up. We haven’t seen such an action from Verstappen for years,” Wolff concluded. “Of course, I haven’t forgotten 2021, but don’t ask me where this behavior comes from.”
