Following a nightmare Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff admits that his team is not operating as it should.

While Lewis Hamilton's failure to score points - effectively missing an open goal following the 'retirement' of Max Verstappen – was eventually down to an errant finger, his car was off the pace for much of the weekend, and it was only a Herculean effort from the world champion that appeared to put the team back in contention on Saturday and again on Sunday.

For Valtteri Bottas, on the other hand it, was a total nightmare, and followed the shambles that was Monaco, where a pit stop whilst in contention for a podium finish, effectively lasted a couple of days.

"I can’t remember having this kind of weekend before," admitted the Finn following Sunday's race. "Yes, there were a few weekends when I’ve had bad sessions but always, at some point, I had the pace.

"But this weekend it’s been all the time like this, and during the whole weekend I still haven’t understood what is wrong. I know myself where’s the limit and I cannot go faster than this, and then you’re still six, seven, eight tenths behind. It’s not normal, so it’s something we need to understand before going to France."

"I think there's lots of things that are not running smoothly as they have in the past few years," admits Wolff. "Operationally we are not at our A-game.

"We haven't found really the sweet spot of the car through qualifying and race, of having a quick qualifying car and a quick race car," he added.

"There's so much that we need to improve, that I just want to get on it right now, in order to make sure that we are actually able to compete for this championship. You can't continue losing points, like we've done in Monaco and here. It is just not acceptable for all of us."

Asked if the back-to-back weekends in Monaco and Baku were the worst he can recall, he admitted: "Yeah, they are the toughest...

"Because not having performance in Monaco, and Valtteri, who would have made it solid on the podium, needing a pitstop of 36 hours, is not really a great achievement, based on the standards that we're setting ourselves.

"Then the car that was almost all sessions nowhere," he added, referring to the Baku weekend. "Then, to be honest, cruising in third and even trying to make it was OK.

"But it's just not acceptable that we are not getting the car into a performant position after the start, or out of the pit stops. It's just we're losing seconds over seconds."

Despite Verstappen's failure to consolidate his championship lead, Sergio Perez' victory extended Red Bull's lead to 26 points.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 12/06/2021 0:29

"@ Spindoctor...I'm not sure just how you manage to form that interpretation? He [ Wolff ] already has blamed that 'errant 'finger problem' !!! There were only ten fingers in that cockpit and they all belonged to the same driver. He did the same with his accusation that Bottas ran short of his marks in Monaco...before embarrassingly having to post a climbdown! I also expect that Hamilton will apportion blame on whoever put the magic button where is currently resides. But then again maybe you're quite right and he will issue a Mea Culpa. We'll never know."

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2. Posted by Spindoctor, 11/06/2021 12:11

"Despite various other comments, I think Wolff is correct in making this statement. He's not, as some have suggested, apportioning blame to groups or individuals, simply stating the obvious fact that Mercedes must do better - in all departments.
I expect one Lewis Hamilton will be feeling pretty sheepish when they debrief...."

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3. Posted by kenji, 09/06/2021 23:28

"@ Kkiirmki...In a nutshell...Yes."

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4. Posted by Kkiirmki, 09/06/2021 5:48

"They've been used to dominating the sport over the last few years. Now that they have some real competition, are the cracks beginning to show?"

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It's just not acceptable, admits Wolff

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