JUST IN: George Russell and Antonelli summoned to Mercedes HQ for ‘M…. Read more
Russell and Antonelli Called to Mercedes HQ for Emergency Meeting Ahead of Hungarian GP
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli have been urgently summoned to Mercedes’ headquarters in Brackley for a high-stakes meeting ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. The emergency session, involving both drivers, designers, and senior engineers, comes in response to the team’s recent decline in performance—highlighted by a disappointing weekend at Spa-Francorchamps during the Belgian Grand Prix.
Despite Russell securing a fifth-place finish in Belgium, Mercedes’ overall competitiveness appeared to take a sharp downturn. The British driver admitted the team was dangerously close to a double Q1 exit during qualifying and described the lack of pace as “concerning.” Antonelli had an even tougher outing, failing to make it past early qualifying sessions and finishing the weekend without scoring a single point.
Speaking after the race, Russell revealed to Sky Sports F1 that an urgent team meeting had been scheduled before the final race prior to Formula 1’s summer break. “We’ve just had no pace recently,” said Russell. “We need to sit down, all of us. We’re going to have a big meeting this week with all the designers and engineers to understand the decisions we’ve made in recent weeks or months and why we’ve gone backwards. Hoping for some improvements in Hungary.”
According to reports from Motorsport.com, the Brackley meeting is being treated as an ‘emergency’ internal review, aimed at diagnosing the root causes of the team’s performance slump. Mercedes’ technical team is reportedly concerned that a series of recent updates may have unintentionally destabilized the car’s balance. Director of trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin is still working to pinpoint the specific modifications that might be responsible.
One of the key discussion points is the impact of the FIA’s updated flexi-wing directive introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix. Russell speculated that this regulatory change could be linked to the team’s sudden drop in form. However, Shovlin cautioned against placing full blame on that factor alone, suggesting multiple technical changes may be contributing.
The Brackley-based team had enjoyed a promising start to the 2025 season. Russell recorded three podium finishes in the first four races, and Antonelli captured his first career pole in Miami and followed it up with a podium in Canada. Since then, however, Mercedes has struggled to match the pace of rivals like Ferrari, who have brought successful upgrades to recent rounds—including a new floor in Austria and a revised rear suspension in Belgium.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took full advantage of his team’s progress, earning his fifth podium of the year in Spa and helping the Scuderia widen the gap in the constructors’ championship.
Shovlin emphasized the importance of the upcoming Brackley meeting in helping the team regroup ahead of Budapest. “It’s possible to change some things ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix,” he explained. “How much we can change will depend on the components we have available. We’ve introduced a lot of updates recently, so this meeting with the drivers will be critical to analyze everything we’ve done and ensure our efforts are focused in the right direction—rather than making changes for the sake of it.”
With only one race remaining before the summer break, Mercedes will be hoping their internal investigation leads to a much-needed turnaround in Hungary.
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