The biggest difference maker in Formula 1 this season may not be a supremely talented driver or an all-powerful engine, let alone the spectacular rotating “Macarena” wing.This could be the year of the algorithm.The Belgian Grand Prix was more evidence of how code that the drivers don’t fully understand is shaping — or distorting — the title fight. Kimi Antonelli sped to his sixth win of the season and nearly doubled his lead, while his Mercedes teammate and title rival George Russell was left stuck in a gravel trap after colliding with Lewis Hamilton. In an angry radio message to Mercedes, Russell demanded to know why he’d had an “unacceptable” loss of electrical power that dropped him back into a fight with Hamilton in the first place.
The big mystery“The irony of the age; more knowledge than ever before in human history, yet even more mysteries,” 1996 champion Damon Hill commented on X over a video of Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff blaming a software issue affecting all cars with Mercedes engines.“Got to feel for (Russell). What does he have to do? All a bit weird how his car is different to Kimi’s. They should be identical, performance wise. We will no doubt hear more of this anon,” Hill also posted.On Saturday, Russell had complained of driving with “one hand behind my back” in qualifying after dropping straight-line speed to Antonelli for no clear reason. The team’s trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin called it “a clear loss that we cannot explain by driving style.”
