Toto Wolff, Mercedes Formula 1 boss, labeled Mercedes’ performance the worst in a decade. He believes the Belgian Grand Prix qualifying results are unacceptable.
George Russell in a shocking race took the pole position in Hungary. However, Mercedes remained clueless about what led to scuppered from pole to worst qualifying at the Spa-Francorchamps.
Grid penalties for title contenders Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen had provided a golden opportunity for the Mercedes’ driver. But Lewis Hamilton and his team-mate Russell finished qualifying at seventh and eighth fastest.
The major concern for the team was Hamilton lag of 1.838 second to pace-setter Max Verstappen. Wolff exclaimed that such a dramatic change for Mercedes is unacceptable to him.
“You can’t be on pole three weeks before, albeit for very different conditions, different track. And then be 1.8 seconds off the pace at the next one,” he said. “So there’s something which we totally don’t understand, or seem to get right.
“Clearly, Red Bull is here in a league of their own, as the next Ferrari is eight tenths off. But that is no consolation.
“It’s for me the worst qualifying session that I had in 10 years. And irrespective of what positions we’re going to start tomorrow. Being on pole the previous weekend and three weeks later being nowhere. It’s just not acceptable for ourselves.”
Hamilton shares Wolff Concerns
Hamilton finished eighth but started fourth on grid, because of grid penalties to the cars ahead of him. He showed his concern and was unable to comprehend what has gone wrong.
“I never thought it would be two seconds off. It is way, way worse than I thought,” he said.
“For sure, it doesn’t make sense but that’s it. We tried everything. I put everything on and put everything off, changed wings, changed set-up, I’ve done everything this weekend.
“I’ve tried a lot of things and it is surprising to see us [so far off]. Maybe they’ve moved forward. I don’t know if they’ve got upgrades or not but it is difficult.”
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Wolff shared the same concerns. “I mean, if we would understand, we could tune it,” he said. “But the car is draggy in a straight line. Lewis said it was like dragging a parachute behind him.
“It is unstable on the rear and understeers through [Turns] eight and nine. It bounces through the high-speed and gives no confidence.
“I mean, there is not a positive that I heard about how the car performs here this weekend and throughout the weekend. So I think now it’s time to consolidate and decide what to do next year.”
