Mercedes boss Toto Wolff slams ‘totally unacceptable’ start to F1 season

Toto Wolff has described Mercedes’ current plight as ‘totally unacceptable’ after they fell even further behind Red Bull and Ferrari in Saudi Arabia. 

Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q1 for the first time in five years at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. 

The 37-year-old struggled to get to grips with his Mercedes car and will be starting from all the way down in 15th place when the five red lights go out on Sunday evening – elevated one place due to Mick Schumacher‘s withdrawal following a big crash.

Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q1 for the first time in five years in Saudi Arabia

Toto Wolff has described Mercedes’ current plight as ‘totally unacceptable’

Hamilton now faces a tricky task in catching up to the likes of pole-sitter Sergio Perez and his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen over the course of the 50-lap race.

Team-mate George Russell was also outpaced by Esteban Ocon in the Alpine and will start sixth.

The result marked the latest blow in a string of recent setbacks for Mercedes, who are enduring a horrendous start to the new F1 season after failing to live up to their usual high standards at last weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

The result marked the latest blow in a string of recent setbacks for Mercedes this season

‘I always love competition,’  Wolff told Motorsport Week. 

‘We had a really strong run of eight years leading the pack – not always, but we kind of managed our way into the lead – but this time feels a bit like 2013 when we just weren’t up to the speed of the Red Bulls and probably also the Ferraris.

‘We kept fighting and this is how I feel at the moment – we need to fight.

‘It’s certainly totally unacceptable where we are on performance. We are third on the road, and sometimes not even that like today. It’s just not an option to stay where we are.’

Despite dominating Formula 1 in recent years, Mercedes have been keen to play down their chances of coming out on top in 2022. 

After Hamilton’s third-place finish in Bahrain, team principal Toto Wolff insisted that the Brit was still only a ‘long shot‘ to win his eighth world championship later this year.

Meanwhile, Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell has also raised concerns about the Mercedes car.

Driver George Russell (pictured) has also raised concerns about the Mercedes car

He has claimed that the team’s problems could be an issue throughout the season, and hinted that it would be difficult to find a quick fix.

Hamilton’s disastrous qualifying performance seems to suggest that Russell’s assessment could prove correct, with Mercedes currently some distance behind their main rivals. 

Wolff added: ‘This car is tricky to set up. We had a lower-drag rear wing, took the Gurney off, but still it wasn’t enough to shave more drag off the car, but generally I would say it isn’t a single problem.

‘We have many parts of the car that don’t work, that we don’t understand. They don’t perform enough, and this is not where we all expect the car to be.’