Toto Wolff has warned Lewis Hamilton that Mercedes’ improve is unlikely to offer a swift finish to his dropping streak.
Hamilton and team-mate George Russell got their first style of the workforce’s revamped machine in Monaco.
Hamilton and Russell certified sixth and eighth, earlier than making up two and three locations respectively in Sunday’s rain-hit race following an early name to maneuver from slick to moist rubber.
Traditionally, the Monte Carlo format has been amongst Mercedes’ worst tracks with this weekend’s race on the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona set to signify a more true reflection of the workforce’s outright velocity.
But Wolff believes he didn’t see sufficient progress from their upgraded automobile to counsel they’ll instantly transfer forward of Aston Martin and Ferrari within the pecking order, or problem Max Verstappen’s Red Bull workforce who’ve received all six races this yr.
“We need to be careful,” mentioned workforce principal Wolff. “We will collect more data in Barcelona, but I don’t expect us to clear Ferrari and Aston Martin there either.
“It is about understanding what does this car do now and how do we set it up?
“We are good at grinding away. Last year, the package was terrible at the beginning of the season, and we won a race in Interlagos [at the penultimate round] so we will get there.”
Hamilton completed 39 seconds behind Verstappen on Sunday because the Dutchman claimed his fourth victory in six races to increase his championship result in 39 factors.
Red Bull have now received 15 of the final 16 grands prix, with Verstappen, who grazed the wall en path to taking the chequered flag in Monte Carlo, remaining on target to race to his third world title in as a few years.
Asked if Verstappen’s dominance is proving to be a turn-off for the game, Wolff replied: “When you win in Formula One it is a meritocracy.
“They have done a good job and the car is fast in all conditions and the driver is at the top of his game.
“We need to do a better job, catch up, find intelligent solutions and hope our development slope is steeper than theirs, and eventually fight again.
“Whether it is good for the show or not, a strong fight between 10 drivers, or at least two, is obviously much better for all of us, but we have to accept it and work to get back there.
“The best driver in the best car spending the same money wins the championship, and if you break the rules you should be heavily penalised, but only then, and you should not be penalised for simply doing a good job.”
Source: www.impartial.co.uk