Toto Wolff’s team had a disappointing weekend, failing to reach the podium just as they did in the Netherlands. The alarm bells are ringing for the drivers after Mercedes’ flop at Monza.
The Monza weekend delivered many interesting verdicts for both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. Unfortunately, among the negative notes, Mercedes had to be mentioned alongside Red Bull. The weekend in Monza was quite disappointing for Toto Wolff’s team, which was strong and competitive on Friday and Saturday but surprisingly slower during Sunday’s race. They were unable to challenge the dominance of Ferrari and McLaren. The German team seems to be haunted by the ghosts of the disastrous start to the season, with the podium once again out of reach, just like at Zandvoort.
Lewis Hamilton’s fifth place and George Russell’s disappointing seventh place Lewis Hamilton’s fifth place and George Russell’s disappointing seventh place certainly betrayed the expectations for the Italian weekend, where Mercedes hoped for a significant improvement after the Dutch Grand Prix; however, Russell’s race was compromised by a poor start (with damage to the front wing), while Hamilton was unable to catch Sainz’s Ferrari for fourth place. This is another worrying step backward, following the struggles at Zandvoort, where the Brackley-based team also suffered in the race despite an above-expectations qualifying session.
Is Mercedes in trouble after Monza? The words of Wolff and the drivers.
The unpredictability of the W15, capable of winning three GPs but also missing the podium in two consecutive races, is fully reflected in the words of the drivers and team principal Toto Wolff. Since the summer break, even though Mercedes remains in the mix (and at Monza, they battled with the two Red Bulls), there is a sense of discontent in the garage and a step backward in the fight against McLaren and Ferrari for the top spots. After the Monza race, Toto Wolff had this to say about the W15 and its Sunday performance: “First of all, congratulations to Ferrari and Charles Leclerc for the well-deserved win. It’s always a special moment when Ferrari wins here at Monza.”
So, what is the real problem with Mercedes? Toto Wolff points to graining as the main culprit: “Our race was better than Zandvoort, but not good. We opted for a two-stop strategy because we suffered from graining on the front left tire, making a one-stop strategy difficult. It was a tough situation to manage, and it was challenging to decide whether to risk a one-stop or push harder with two stops. Our pace today made it difficult to score more points than we did, and we didn’t perform at the level we had before the summer break. When you lack pace, strategic decisions become difficult, as we’veseen”.
Lewis Hamilton also expressed disappointment and concern, stating:“Today, we didn’t have the pace to fight for more, and McLaren and Ferrari, in particular, were stronger. I was able to keep up with Sainz, but I couldn’t do the longer stint and single stop that he managed. In the end, though, we needed better balance with the car to achieve much more. It’s a shame to leave a weekend where we looked so strong without more to show for it, where we seemed in good shape during practice and qualifying but couldn’t deliver the same in the race.”
George Russell, who started third but finished only seventh, added: “It was a frustrating day, and in the end, we didn’t have the pace to fight for the podium. My race went up in smoke at the first corner. I got a good start but got caught in the dirty air behind Piastri, locked up to avoid him, and damaged the front wing a bit. This compromised my initial stint, and we lost time in the pit stop having to change the wing.Our pace wasn’t as strong as before the summer break, neither here nor at Zandvoort, while other teams seem to have taken a step forward, so we’ll need to work diligently to get back on par with them”.
Photo: Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
