© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says “the biggest problem is the car feels good actually”, but it’s “not strong enough at the moment to really fight at the front, at least not in testing”.
After a difficult second day of pre-season testing, which saw Lewis Hamilton struggle with the W14 and George Russell’s car suffer a hydraulics issue, things didn’t look very good for Mercedes.
Toto Wolff says the team is confused about what is happening.
“The biggest problem is the car feels good actually,” the Austrian said.
“We have a really good start on the first testing day but yesterday we had poison in the car. We don’t understand why it didn’t perform.
“I have been worried 10 years already so it doesn’t change any of my worries. We think we know where it is coming from.”
Asked if Mercedes can fight Red Bull and Ferrari, Wolff said:
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“No, we have to be realistic. Our car is not strong enough at the moment to really fight at the front, at least not in testing. We need to consolidate and see where we are.”
However, he thinks the issues with the car could possibly be fixed quickly.
“I think we can fix it quick because the problems are not as big, but the train with Red Bull has left the station.
“We haven’t raced yet and you never know yet, it could be we are unlocking potential with one decision but at the moment we haven’t found that,” Wolff concluded.
Thankfully, on Day 3 of testing the Mercedes seems to be in a much better place for now, with Russell currently sitting second on the timesheets, 0.418s behind Charles Leclerc.
