© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says the W14 has “issues everywhere”, but “if you can put it in a sweet spot, then the car is fast”.
Although Mercedes did not have an easy time at the Dutch Grand Prix, everybody in the team agrees that the W14’s performance is improving.
However, there are still numerous issues that the team still has to deal with.
“We have issues everywhere,” the Austrian said.
“[In the] wet, the crossover [period] or in the dry, the car is just very, very difficult to drive. It is snappy, it is unpredictable.
“But if you can put it in a sweet spot, then the car is fast, and we saw that with George [Russell in qualifying].
“But we need to be realistic, we could have had [second at the Dutch GP], but we need to look at the gap to Max. It is something that we need to close. Seven-tenths is seven-tenths.”
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Toto also said that F1 is currently not providing what the viewers want – a close battle for the title – but he concedes it is up to the teams to find a way to beat Red Bull.
“Clear variability and unpredictability is what makes the sport exciting. You want to look at the telly on Sunday and hope for a fight, and that is just not the case at the moment.
“It is not happening because one team and one driver is just doing a much better job than anybody else.
“We need to acknowledge that it is up to us to find solutions that leapfrog us to a certain degree because seven-tenths is not something that you find from one race to another.
“We have seen it with McLaren. That one update basically changed their performance levels considerably, and the same with Aston Martin over the winter.
“So it is possible and up to us to get there,” Wolff concluded.
