Toto Wolff has raised his concerns over a potential budget cap rule break by Mercedes after George Russell crashed in practice on Friday.
Russell spun off the track and collided into the barriers during the second practice session of this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix.
Russell crashed into the barriers during practice in MexicoGetty
The Brit walked away uninjured, but crashed for the second time in a week having done so in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix.
Mercedes have therefore had to spend money to fix the damage and such expenditure counts towards Formula 1’s budget cap.
Introduced in 2021, the rule limits team spending to keep costs down and ensure a level playing with field, with this season’s allowance set at $135million [£104m].
However, Wolff has expressed worry over whether or not Mercedes will be able to stay within the regulations following Russell’s incident.
“That was a really big impact. He was taken to the medical centre, but he is OK,” he said afterwards via The Mirror.
“But of course, the car is badly damaged. We do have the parts, I think we can keep the old chassis, but everything else has to go.
“The engine has to come out, the gearbox has to be checked and everything else. Two corners of the car are completely gone. So it is serious damage.”
Speaking on their increasing costs, the team principal added: “We are in serious trouble.
“We are all struggling to stay within the budget cap and of course we had a bad accident with Kimi [Antonelli] at Monza [in September].
“Then the second one with George last week and now again.”
Russell was able to walk away without injuryGetty
Wolff believes Mercedes could be in trouble for exceeding the budget capGetty
Only Red Bull have breached the spending rule since it was brought in and did so in its first year, with a $7m [£5.4m] fine issued.
It remains to be seen if Mercedes will in fact exceed the limit, but they will first be hopeful of a strong qualifying session in Mexico.
Russell was fastest in first practice before his crash in the second, in which his teammate Lewis Hamilton came seventh overall.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull remains top of the drivers’ standings ahead of Sunday’s race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
The three-time world champion is just 57 points ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris though, with five Grands Prix to go after this weekend.
