Wolff blunt: Mercedes car is "not at all" better at handling this weekend
F1 News
Lewis Hamilton managed to secure P6 on the grid but will start one place behind former teammate Valtteri Bottas who drives an Alfa Romeo. Despite the better result compared to the P14 in Imola, Hamilton remained one second behind Charles Leclerc's pole position time. Meanwhile, George Russell failed to reach Q3.
On Friday, the W13 looked much improved and there were hints that they could challenge for the second row. That wasn't possible in the end, and team boss Toto Wolff explains the difference in performance.
"[Is the car much better handling?] Not at all. We have seen some performance that was real in FP2. We were able to put it in the sweet spot, today in FP3 we were completely off with experiments. Got a little bit back, but the car is still bouncing around like a kangaroo and that's why we're off," Wolff told Sky Sports after the session in Miami.
Mercedes pushing for improvements
Week on week, Mercedes drivers Russell and Hamilton insist that everyone at the garage are working hard on the problems. Whilst the effort can't be questioned, the rate at which the upgrades come will be frustrating for those inside the garage. However, one positive for Wolff is the performance differences help them understand their car better.
"The slump helped [furthered the understanding]. It's never one thing that is responsible. We had a good car yesterday afternoon, we worsened it a little bit. Some things we understand, others not," Wolff concluded.