Mercedes has been left with choice but to use the development of
the W14 like “plasters” to combat the “nasty” car, according to
Toto Wolff. The eight-time champions were comprehensively beaten in
the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend with a combination of high tyre
wear being mixed with slow straight-line speed to make for a
miserable event. Lewis Hamilton was only eighth in the race with
George Russell retiring, with Wolff describing the weekend as the
worst of his 13 years in F1. The Brackley squad has been hamstrung
by at first doubling-down on its flawed zero sidepods concept with
the W14, with resulting upgrades changing the architecture of the
car, but not the on-track performance. Worryingly for Mercedes, the
likes of Aston Martin and McLaren have been able to turn their
fortunes around while the team cannot, with Wolff firm that its
performance was “not on.” Wolff baffled by Mercedes lack of pace
“It is totally baffling and at the same time, unacceptable for all
of us,” Wolff told media including RacingNews365. “We have a proper
structure, solid team and we didn’t look like a solid team. “Within
three consecutive races, you’re finishing a strong second in both
of them [on the road] challenging Max, and then a week later, you
end up nowhere. I believe it is just not on. “When I look at our
competitors, even between the cars, Red Bull doesn’t get things
wrong very often. Aston Martin, within one week of being outside of
the points to having a solid podium. “McLaren, in the first part of
the season, it was not making it out of Q1 at times, and [in the
race], it was hunting Max. “[The car] is sometimes a nasty surprise
box for all of us – and we got it probably as bad as some other
teams got it. “The development on this car is more plasters that we
have put on, and that is not right. “It shows that it is so
unpredictable and can swing either way, and you can be six, seven
or eight-tenths off when you just tip over the edge.”
Source: Read More