Valtteri Bottas had also spoken about how the Mercedes car was in dire shape ensuing the Azerbaijan Grand Prix practice session
For Mercedes, the last couple of months have threatened to pour cold water over the gruelling hardwork the put has done across the course of the season. After a sordid Monaco Grand Prix, the team failed to overhaul its underachieving form as it floundered in the practice session in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Friday.
Lewis Hamilton ended up 0.7 seconds shorter than Max Verstappen who set the speed in the opening session and more than a second behind Sergio Perez’s top time in FP2. Bottas was even slower with him coming up 1.7s short in the opening session and two seconds off in FP2.
Ensuing the disarray the team found itself in, Hamilton’s counterpart, Valtteri Bottas to the car not being in the best of shapes.
Wolff Talks About Mercedes’ Car Issues After Azerbaijan Grand Prix Practice
Team principal, Toto Wolff concurred with Bottas. Speaking after the three practice sessions, Wolff talked about how Mercedes were trying to tune their car but were failing to doing the needful at the moment.
“We knew that Monaco and Baku are not tracks that suit us. Most of the layout there is no fast corners. It’s all stop and go, it’s all 90-degree corners or more tricky Monaco style, so it was always clear that it would be difficult for us.
“I believe we have a good racecar, so there’s ground to recover on Sunday and then learn. It is what it is. We’re trying to go as fast as possible with the kit that is available,” Wolff said.
Mercedes are currently chasing Red Bull in both the Championship and Constructors’ rankings after a wayward race at the Monaco GP. Where Lewis Hamilton ended up in seventh spot, Bottas retired owing to a wheel nut issue.
Wolff’s comments won’t augur well for Mercedes supporters going ahead as well. When asked about if things would be easier for the side once the season moved back to the more traditional tracks, Wolff refused to agree.
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