After another difficult weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix, Wolff referred to their desperate straits as a “dungeon” that was proving more difficult to deal with than anything the team had experienced before. Max Verstappen won for Red Bull at Spa-Francorchamps with a dominant run from 14th on the grid in a victory that highlighted his ability and his remarkable car this season. After 14 races and with eight to go, a second title is within reach, but Mercedes, in stark contrast, have once again been left reeling from a car they still don’t understand and whose week-to-week performance remains enigma. Seven-times champion Lewis Hamilton, who has enjoyed Mercedes’ dominance by taking six titles with the team – who have won eight constructors’ titles in a row since 2014 – was almost two seconds off Verstappen’s pace in qualifying in Belgium, making it clear that couldn’t wait to move on to next year’s model. Wolff admitted it was difficult to deal with relegation on an also-ran. “They say you never lose you learn, I can tell you it’s very difficult,” he said. “All these nice Instagram posts and everything we’ve talked about for eight years about how we’re going to deal with it when you get to the dungeon. Stick to your principles and values, keep your spirits up and keep relentlessly striving to be better? Phew. There is more to write a book about this year than there has been for the last eight years.” Hamilton’s race ended on the first lap when he hit Fernando Alonso going for a pass at Les Combes, but once again the real conundrum facing Mercedes was evident at Spa and left Wolff and the team reeling. As they were so slow in qualifying, they were much faster in the race, with George Russell taking fourth. “It’s very difficult to deal with these swings,” Wolff said. “We had a completely inferior performance in qualifying and then in the race we sometimes go three seconds a lap faster. There are big question marks about what’s going on. It’s not where we need to be with the structure and the knowledge to understand a racing car, but we don’t with this one.” Hamilton said after qualifying that he couldn’t wait for next year’s car, but while their hopes have been dashed this season, the team is yet to make a firm decision on which route to take for their new model. Wolff admitted that it was far from a simple decision and that changing a design concept was not a simple, nor a guaranteed, route back to competitiveness. “Whatever we decide next year has to be carefully evaluated because clearly our data doesn’t give us the results, it doesn’t correlate it with reality,” he said. “We have huge performance changes that we can’t really overcome. Right now to make a decision for next year, dramatically changing an idea, how can you be sure that’s the best direction to go because you’d clearly be starting a comeback?” Quick guide
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Thanks for your response. Wolff said their decision on next year’s car would be made in the coming weeks and indicated the team felt they could do even better this season with Hamilton’s record of having won a race every year he has competed in F1 at line. “There are racetracks that will suit our car, that’s our ambition,” he said. “But at the same time it’s clear to put a lot of emphasis on next year. The positions are where we are with the top three teams, finishing second or third makes no difference to me.”
