F1 News
Wolff reveals problem with Mercedes' W15: 'It has become more difficult'
Toto Wolff has pinpointed the issue, which has caused a small setback in results for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell at Mercedes. The German team went into the summer break as the form team, winning three of the previous four races. However, results have dipped slightly since the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Wolff has noted where the W15 is lacking.
Wolff highlights Mercedes' problem
The fruits of Mercedes' hard work were first seen with a positive performance in Canada. However, given the fact the race was completed in unique conditions, on a unique circuit with a unique set of conditions, the team waited for further races to confirm the performance. Mercedes secured another podium in Spain before winning in Austria and Britain.
Mercedes have improved, but found themselves behind both McLaren and Ferrari last weekend in Monza. Wolff points to a strength of the W15 that simultaneously causes a weakness in the race. "I think we're able to extract the single lap, which in principle is good news, but then the balance isn't in a way good enough to keep the tyres happy for the race," the Mercedes team boss told several media outlets, including GPblog.
The 52-year-old Austrian says this has been an issue since the action returned after the break. "That's been a little bit the moto since Zandvoort. It's a bit more on the edge. Harder to find the right balance," Wolff concluded.
At Monza, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton qualified third and sixth, respectively. In the race, Russell finished seventh, two places behind his teammate. A week earlier, a similar scenario occurred at Circuit Zandvoort: Russell qualified fourth but fell back to seventh in the race. Hamilton finished eighth after failing to escape Q2 a day earlier.
This article has been created in collaboration with Nicole Mulder
Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels!