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Wolff: Mercedes losing half a second to Ferrari on the straights

11:58, 22 Jul 2018

byMatt

Toto Wolff admits his two cars are losing half a second to Ferrari on the straights at Hockenheim. Those inside the Mercedes garage are scratching their heads on how to bring back the lead over their Italian rivals.

“I’ve heard Christian complaining for the last four years about straight line speed so I don’t want to go there. But as a matter of fact it is where we lost out,” Wolff said in an interview on race fans.

“They have a great power unit, huge performance - we’re looking good through all kinds of corners but we are not able to match their straight-line performance.”

For the first time in over four years, the German outfit are getting beat. Wolff confirms the team are looking at new things to recover the deficit. He went on to praise his driver Valtteri Bottas for his final hot lap yesterday.

“Valtteri [Bottas] was exceptional in the third sector, that’s why he was even close to pole position. But we just have to look at things and try to improve. [Deficit] was give tenths on the straights.

“No, it’s not expected but in Formula One you need to expect everything and we need to find out how we can increase our output.”

How do you think the Mercedes drivers will fare today? Hamilton starting from 14th and Bottas from 2nd surrounded by Ferrari’s. Let us know what you think in the comments!