Toto Wolff shows: James Vowles sent sorry texts during the race

(Motorsport-Total.com) - James Vowles and Toto Wolff have become friends through their years of working together at Mercedes, but at the Formula 1 race in Monaco, the Williams team boss had to get on his counterpart's nerves with his tactical games - and apologized to him via text message.

The two Mercedes drivers George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli were alternately slowed down by the Williams drivers Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon because they had helped each other.

During his post-race media briefing, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile phone to read out a message exchanged during the race with his Williams colleague.

"He sent me a message during the race," Wolff says when asked if he would discuss tactics with Vowles. "'I'm sorry. We had no choice because of what happened in front of us.' I replied, 'We know!'"

"James is one of my guys, and I don't want to sound condescending because he's really developing well as a team boss. He had to do this. Two cars in the points—and I think it started with the RBs slowing us down. So they had to do the same."

Vowles told F1TV during the race that the decision did not reflect his ideal of racing - emotions then ran high at Mercedes and Russell overtook Albon via the emergency exit of the harbor chicane and received a drive-through penalty.

Mercedes: Race lost on Saturday

Russell had already said after qualifying that his weekend was "over," after an electrical problem left him in 14th place —just ahead of Antonelli, who crashed in Q1. Wolff admitted that the poor Saturday performance significantly held Mercedes back in the race.

"There were teams that were above their level, like the RBs, and they had to defend their position—as did Williams. And we were one of the victims of that. But we were because our Saturday didn't go well," Wolff said.

"We had a fast car. Kimi touched the wall—that's absolutely normal for a rookie. And George's power suddenly disappeared. It was a car for the front two rows—or better."

"And then we drove in the 'fun' part of the track. There was simply no room where we were."

"I think the heavy braking surprised both him (Russell; editor's note) and Kimi. I think Kimi was the one who almost crashed into one of the Williams cars while braking. Just think: 5.5 seconds slower—it's suddenly a completely different track with different braking points."

"It was the same situation with George. It was hard to stop the car, he just drove straight ahead—I think it was a moment of frustration to try something different. We knew it would be a stop-and-go penalty—we were hoping for ten seconds. But it didn't change anything."

Wolff: Other tactics would not have helped either

Wolff, who suggests that further specific changes are needed for Monaco to really improve racing, also rejects the suggestion that Mercedes has gambled strategically.

Although some cars stopped after the first lap and others rejoined the track in clear motion, Russell and Antonelli stayed out - apparently hoping for a safety car or a red flag.

"We had an interesting discussion about strategy this morning. I said, 'Let's stop early, go out, and catch up.' That's how we used to do it in the DTM—it was fantastic. You stopped, were last, and won the race."

"But the smarter minds in our strategy department showed me that this wouldn't work here in Monaco. It was the best strategy—and you can see that even for those who stopped early, nothing has changed."