Mercedes' struggles in F1 German GP no cause for alarm - Wolff
Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff sees no need for major worry at his team on the back of the return of its tyre struggles in the German Grand Prix
The Brackley-based outfit appeared to have got on top of its degradation problems when Nico Rosberg delivered victories in the Monaco and British Grands Prix.
However, both Rosberg and team-mate Lewis Hamilton suffered a return of its woes at the Nurburgring last weekend, highlighting just how much work the team still needs to do.
And matters are further not helped by the fact that Mercedes cannot try out Pirelli's new tyres that will be used from the Hungarian Grand Prix because of its ban from next week's young driver test.
Wolff is calm about the situation though, and thinks things are not as bad as some have suggested.
"Germany was not a huge disappointment, it was just disappointing," Wolff told AUTOSPORT.
"It is not nice to see a car which won seven days before not performing in the same way - going from a top car back to a midfield performance.
"But we know the car is pretty quick. A car doesn't deteriorate in just seven days."
NO BIG RETHINK NEEDED
Wolff thinks the fact that the car is still proving fast - albeit unable to get the best out of the tyres in hot races - shows that the problem is one that can be cured by hard work rather than the need for a wholesale rethink.
"It highlights that we have to put our heads together," he said. "I think we have pretty intelligent people and we have to get on top of the problems."
Mercedes had hoped for a late reprieve to at least try out the Hungarian tyres at Silverstone, but it now looks almost certain that it will not be allowed.
Wolff says his team accepts the non-running at Silverstone will be a hindrance, but thinks that his engineers should make the most of the extra time at the factory to keep working on solutions.
"Obviously it is always a disadvantage if you can't test," he said. "But we knew where we were, and we have to stick to the best possible thing we can do. At least we get three days of thinking now."
Formula 1 Russian-style
Honda to fire up new F1 2015 engine in autumn this year
Hamilton: "Way more" to be done to help progression from W Series
Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton believes “way more” needs to be done to help ensure progression from W Series and give women more opportunities in racing.
Autosport Podcast: Ranking the top 10 Arrows F1 drivers
The Arrows Formula 1 team was a mainstay of the world championship for 24 years between 1978 and 2002, with its perennial underdog status earning widespread admiration.
The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
Personable, articulate and devoid of the usual racing driver airs and graces, Nicholas Latifi is the last Formula 1 driver you’d expect to receive death threats, but such was the toxic legacy of his part in last year’s explosive season finale. And now, as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains, he faces a battle to keep his place on the F1 grid…
Ferrari: F1 team orders idea discussed more outside than internally
Ferrari says the use of team orders between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz is “more discussed outside Ferrari than inside Ferrari” as it targets parity with its Formula 1 drivers.
The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
Personable, articulate and devoid of the usual racing driver airs and graces, Nicholas Latifi is the last Formula 1 driver you’d expect to receive death threats, but such was the toxic legacy of his part in last year’s explosive season finale. And now, as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains, he faces a battle to keep his place on the F1 grid…
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24 into a winning car with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel. And now it’s happening again at his current team, but can the rate of progress be matched this year?
Why few could blame Leclerc for following the example of Hamilton’s exit bombshell
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior
The other McLaren exile hoping to follow Perez's path to a top F1 seat
After being ditched by McLaren earlier in his F1 career Sergio Perez fought his way back into a seat with a leading team. BEN EDWARDS thinks the same could be happening to another member of the current grid
How studying Schumacher helped make Coulthard a McLaren F1 mainstay
Winner of 13 grands prix including Monaco and survivor of a life-changing plane crash, David Coulthard could be forgiven for having eased into a quiet retirement – but, as MARK GALLAGHER explains, in fact he’s busier than ever, running an award-winning media company and championing diversity in motor racing. Not bad for someone who, by his own admission, wasn’t quite the fastest driver of his generation…
Could F1 move to a future beyond carbonfibre?
Formula 1 has ambitious goals for improving its carbon footprint, but could this include banishing its favoured composite material? PAT SYMONDS considers the alternatives to carbonfibre and what use, if any, those materials have in a Formula 1 setting