© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Toto Wolff admits “it is an illusion to [get] closer to Red Bull in the short-term, but I still have to believe that there is more in this car”.
After George Russell qualified for the Australian Grand Prix in P7 and Lewis Hamilton got eliminated in Q2, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff admits Mercedes is simply not good enough at the moment.
“It is underwhelming because we were within a tenth [of the pace] in FP3,” the Austrian told Sky Sports F1.
“The conditions were a little bit different, but there is no excuse, we have a car that is difficult, and you can be narrowly in or out of the window.
“As much as I am annoyed myself at saying this for a long time, we will just continue working on it and trying to get better.
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“It is not because a lack of trying that we are where we are, but it is not good enough.
“It is the whole interaction of aerodynamics, mechanics and the tyres, it is not a single topic. But we’ve just got to keep our heads down and push through this.
“It is an illusion to [get] closer to Red Bull in the short-term, but I still have to believe that there is more in this car – and you see the performance in FP3, that is not a bad car.
“But it is tricky to be out of the performance window, so we’re just going to continue to work on it,” Wolff concluded.
