Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says his group have arrived in a “dungeon” this season after one other weekend of disappointment in Belgium.
With hopes excessive that the Silver Arrows may land their first victory of the season at Spa-Francorchamps, having secured their first pole place in Hungary final month, the tempo of each Lewis Hamilton and George Russell was nowhere in comparison with the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
Come race day, Hamilton’s streak of 5 podiums in a row got here to an finish as he retired through the first lap following a collision with Fernando Alonso whereas Russell couldn’t reel in Carlos Sainz in third and needed to accept fourth.
Mercedes have gained the Constructors’ Championship within the final eight years however at the moment lie third within the standings, a mammoth 159 factors behind Red Bull, who’re out in entrance with eight races to go.
Hamilton has already famous that focus wants to modify to subsequent yr’s automobile and whereas Wolff echoed these ideas, the Mercedes group principal described how tough 2022 has been for the group.
“They say you never lose you learn, I can tell you it is f****** difficult,” Wolff mentioned.
“All these nice Instagram posts and everything we have talked about over the eight years, about how we are going to take this when you arrive in the dungeon.
“To stick to your principles and your values, to keep the spirit up and continue to relentlessly seek to get better? Phew. There is more to write a book about this year than there is about the last eight years.
“It’s very difficult to cope with these swings. We had a totally sub-par performance in qualifying, then in the race sometimes we go three seconds a lap faster. There are big question marks about what is going on.
“It’s not where we should be with the structure and knowledge to understand a racing car but we don’t with this one.”
Mercedes have to discover a short-term repair rapidly within the midst of a triple-header, with Formula One transferring on to Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix this week.
Source: www.impartial.co.uk