Toto Wolff points to “additional negative” involving Max Verstappen and Ferrari in Jeddah

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has shared that his team's deficit to Max Verstappen and Ferrari at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was an 'additonal negative' for the German side. The Silver Arrows had their worst weekend of the 2025 season so far, claimed the Austrian.

While both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were impressive during qualifying for the Saudi Arabian GP, claiming P3 and P5 respectively, both drivers were unable to retain their positions during the race on Sunday. Russell finished the race in P5, and Antonelli ended up just behind in sixth.

Russell was initially running in the podium positions after the first round of pit stops, but was eventually overtaken by Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris, both of whom had a tire offset in the final stages of the race. Speaking after the race at Jeddah, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff claimed that his team's lack of pace in comparison to Max Verstappen and Ferrari [presumably Leclerc's] was an 'additonal negative' amid a poor weekend.

"Today we saw [a gap] against Ferrari and Max [Verstappen] also. So that’s why that was an additional negative that when you kind of manage your expectations by being second quickest." said Wolff. [via Formula1.com]

"And even that is not obviously what we would wish to achieve, and then you see this race coming, panning out like it did, it just adds to the frustration of the situation." he added.

Mercedes, especially in the hands of Russell, has shown impressive speed at the beginning of the 2025 season, as the Briton had even finished on the podium in three of the first four races of the year. Around Jeddah though, the Silver Arrows looked like the fourth fastest team on genuine pace, particularly during Sunday's race.

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Red Bull will not challenge Max Verstappen Saudi Arabian GP penalty

Max Verstappen after the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia - Source: Getty

Red Bull team boss, Christian Horner, has revealed that the team will not be challenging Max Verstappen's five-second time penalty from the Saudi Arabian GP. Every F1 team has a right to review any of the decisions made by the FIA stewards during a Grand Prix.

The Austrian team had labeled the sanction on Verstappen as 'very harsh', but Horner claims that a challenge would not make sense, since he has been told that the stewards believe the penalty to be a 'slam dunk'.

“Everything has to be objectively looked at in isolation and that’s a really marginal call. We spoke to them [the stewards] after the race [and] they think it was a slam dunk." Horner told media, including PlanetF1.

“So the problem is, if we’re to protest it, then they’re going to most likely hold the line.” he added.

While Horner gave his verdict on the penalty, as he registered his disapproval of it, Verstappen refused to comment about the incident with Oscar Piastri, as he indirectly criticized the FIA's new anti-speech policy, claiming he could potentially be penalized for disagreeing with the governing body's decision.