07/05/2023
NEWS STORY
Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff doesn't mince his words as he describes his team's 2023 contender as "not a nice car, not a good car".
The Austrian made his claim just hours after Lewis Hamilton had described the W14's lack of pace as a "kick in the guts", the Briton reacting to the realisation of the car's true performance having dominated the opening session on Friday morning.
Both Mercedes drivers struggled in qualifying, and while George Russell made it into Q3, and will start the race from 6th, the seven-time world champion could only manage 13th.
"I take no enjoyment from finishing sixth, because probably sixth should have been eighth or seventh, and even if it was fifth, I would take no enjoyment," said Wolff.
"It's more about the lack of comprehension of what it is that makes this car such a nasty piece of work," he added.
"I think that the car is not a nice car, not a good car," he admitted, "and I wouldn't even be able to point out where the issue is because it's everywhere.
"The basic performance of the car, the lack of understanding of the car is through the whole span of activities on this track. The performance is just really bad."
The German team is placing its faith on a major upgrade programme, the first fruits of which will be introduced in two weeks at Imola.
"I don't believe in miracles," said Wolff, "but I think the stability of the car and the predictability is sub-par. If you can sort that out, helped by a front suspension redesign, then that is definitely a good avenue, and as you say this can be more than a tenth or two of lap time than the aerodynamic package brings, and this is simply because we will have much more drivability and pace.
"What we are trying to do with the upgrade is to create a new baseline for us to take question marks and variables out of the equation and say this is not a problem now that we have come to a different spec, for example, front suspension.
"We are also looking at bodywork solutions that are more conventional than others, and that will create a different airflow. So for me, that is almost like a reset with what would have been a good start twelve months ago and then try to add performance. But the moment it is just a lack of understanding."
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