SKY SPORTS were forced to apologise after Mercedes chief Toto Wolff described Sunday’s Grand Prix as a ‘colossal f*** up.’
Mercedes endured a disaster in Bahrain after 22-year-old George Russell was denied his first ever win through no fault of his own.
With a famous victory in his grasp, a pit stop howler on lap 63 saw one of Valtteri Bottas’ tyres end up on Russell’s car.
The Brit was forced to pit again on the next lap before making yet another charge to the front.
Just as it appeared he could rescue a win, an unfortunate puncture ended his chances to leave Russell devastated.
Russell, who finished ninth, was stepping in for Lewis Hamilton who continues to self-isolate after contracting coronavirus.
Speaking after the race, Wolff said live on air: “Overall for us, it was just a colossal f*** up.
“I know im not allowed to say that… but it was.”
Sky Sports presenters Simon Lazenby and Anthony Davidson quickly interrupted his comment and responded: “I have to apologise for that!”
Wolff then continued, explaining how the team made such a grand error.
He added: “Simply put, one of the tyre crews didn’t get a call.
“We had a radio failure in the garage and when the car came in they didn’t know to change the tyres and had the wrong tyres.
“This is accidentally why we had the wrong set of tyres out.
“Then we obviously had to pit again. But then the race wasn’t lost, but then one bad thing comes…
“We did need to double stack because it was a Safety Car stop. We were find on the hards and could have stayed out, but we had the gap and this is when you do these things.
“You can question that but I think it is absolutely the right call. Still, I cannot even watch these pictures.
“Overall we were doing a good job. Technical failures happen. It wasn’t any human error. These things happen and we have to learn from it.”
While it was heartbreak for Russell, it was tears of joy for Mexican Sergio Perez who earned his first career win.
Esteban Ocon was second while Lance Stroll took third.
Speaking after the race, Russell said: “I am gutted, I am absolutely gutted.
“I can’t put it into words, it was not a nice feeling jumping out of the car.
“I gave it everything I had, I felt confident, comfortable, then we had the muddle up in the pit stop, but I could still have caught Sergio, then there was the puncture. I am gutted.”
