Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has made clear the latest upgrade on the W14 for this weekend’s British Grand Prix has to propel the car forward again following “a bruising day” in Austria.
After the initial sizeable update package was bolted onto the car in Monaco, delivering a step-change in performance in Spain which was then validated in Canada, it was anticipated ahead of the race at the Red Bull Ring that Mercedes would again be in the mix.
But despite the team’s best attempts to find solutions for a lack of pace and performance that were evident from the sole practice session on Friday, the hoped-for upturn never materialised.
Mercedes was not helped by the fact the event was a sprint weekend, so was not afforded the luxury of attempting to dial out its problems through second and final practice.
Once the final classification was known given the welter of post-race penalties applied for track-limits infringements, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished seventh and eighth respectively.
“It was a bruising day,” said Wolff. “We couldn’t make the car quick.
“We saw from Friday onwards that we were lacking a couple of tenths, or a bit more, and that was the case (in the race).
“You’re sitting there for 90 minutes trying to optimise the strategy, or giving the best support to the drivers, but if there’s no inherent pace, that’s a tough 90 minutes for all of us.”
It has become apparent over the last three races, in particular, that when a team brings an upgrade package, the performance leap is obvious – Mercedes in Spain, Aston Martin in Canada, and Ferrari in Austria.
Mercedes will introduce the latest phase of its development plans at Silverstone. Speedcafe understands the main feature will be a new front wing.
Theoretically, it should be enough to thrust Mercedes back to again being the second-quickest team behind Red Bull, particularly at a circuit with its mix of medium- and high-speed corners that should suit the car.
“The swings are quite interesting as to who is the challenger,” said Wolff. “One week it’s us, then it’s Aston Martin, and then Ferrari. This time (in Austria) we were on the back end of the group.
“We predicted that Montréal would not be ideal, and it was surprisingly good, and then Austria, we thought the high speed would save our non-performance in the low speed but it kind of never did.
“We were equal with some of the good guys in the high speed but the car was never in the right place, and we suffered from all of the conditions, from understeer to oversteer, and it was never any good.
“Let’s see if Silverstone suits the characteristics a little bit better. We’re bringing some bits and ideas to Silverstone, and we’ll analyse from there, but it’s got to go forward, that’s for sure.”
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