Wolff: Missing 2 or 3 tenths but there's light at end of the tunnel
F1 NewsMonday, 11 July 2022 at 12:13
Toto Wolff hailed his Mercedes team for digging deep during the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix allowing Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to reward the massive effort with third and fourth place but also knows they are lacking the pace to mount a serious challenge, for now.
Staring eighth (HAM) and fourth (RUS) few expected the Silver Arrows to challenge for victory, even a podium a big ask considering the gap to Ferrari and Mercedes. However, F1 always delivers the unexpected as it did on Sunday.
After half the top four fleet had to park it, leaving Charles Leclerc to out-squabble Max Verstappen for victory, the Mercedes duo were on hand to pick up the rest of the pieces, which meant a final podium step for Hamilton and P4 for teammate Russell.
A big deal for the World Champions whose drivers pranged both cars during a tense Qualifying on Friday. The team hailed the "Herculean" effort in getting the broken bits replaced and bent stuff sorted for Saturday's FP2 and Sprint Race.
Reviewing the race in his homeland, team boss Wolff reported: "We always seem to be in two minds at the end of the races right now. We must accept P3 and P4 today. And when you think we had two cars in pieces on Friday afternoon, that's a strong result."
Indeed it was but the harsh reality is that in the race they were no match for the top two teams - Ferrari and Red Bull - around the ultra-short Red Bull Ring, as the 40 seconds gap testified at the end of the 71 lap race.
Wolff knows there is still a way to go: "We are missing the two or three tenths to be able to race at the front. We have glimpses of light at the end of the tunnel with the car - then it disappears again, and we need to get on top of that.
"Over a race stint, we looked more competitive than yesterday. But we had two drivers needing to put in strong recovery drives, after incidents in the Sprint and in the opening laps."
Shovlin: George's penalty for the incident with Sergio was harsh
Mercedes trackside boss Andrew Shovlin reported from the trenches: It's been a very tough weekend in the garage but very satisfying to come away with third and fourth positions.
"We felt that George's penalty for the incident with Sergio was harsh. He was up on the apex kerb and left more than enough room.
"We had to change the front wing after the contact, so it made for a very long stop. He had to pass through the field twice but raced superbly and maximised the opportunity," explained Shovlin of the incident that all but ended Sergio Perez's afternoon; it looked 50/50 racing incidents on our screens...
He added of Hamilton's race: "Lewis had rather a lot to do in the first stint due to his start position. Once he was through the midfield cars he had good pace but by then the gap to Charles and Max was way too big to chase so we just focused on bringing the car home.
"This hasn't been a track that has suited us in recent years. Despite lacking a little pace to Ferrari and Red Bull, we're encouraged by the fact we're moving in the right direction and have more to come in the next few races.
"We have a busy few days ahead at the factory to recover the situation on car parts, this weekend has not been great in that regard! But we'll pull that back in time for Paul Ricard and are looking forward to a track that should suit the car," predicted the Mercedes man.
Wolff concluded with praise for Ferrari's race winner Leclerc: "It was good to see Charles on the top step. He's had a lot of bad luck, and it looks like the fight is on at the front. Now we need to work on the car to close the gap to the teams ahead, then see how we can get in the mix."
Latest News
Loading
