"Overall it wasn’t a good day" - Mercedes boss laments another disappointing day for the team

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reflected on another disappointing day for the German outfit as the team struggled around the Albert Park layout. The day did not fare as well as it could have, with the most striking highlight being Lewis Hamilton languishing in P18.

Hamilton was unable to put together a clean lap on his soft tire and hence ended up too far down the order. Even for George Russell, the picture was not as rosy. The driver was P6 in the timesheets, but a whopping 0.674 seconds down on the time set by Charles Leclerc in P1.

Mercedes had struggled a lot in the fast-speed sections of Jeddah where F1 had its last race. Coming to Albert Park, there was an expectation that the car would do better but as Toto Wolff revealed to Sky Sports, this was not the case.

The Austrian revealed that the team tried a few experiments on the car but couldn't hit the sweet spot. He said:

“We have achieved to experiment, but we haven’t unlocked performance. In the second session we have gone through quite a dramatic set-up change on Lewis and that has dramatically backfired, but this is why we are having those sessions."

He added:

“On the other side it was a bit better [with Russell] but we are lacking performance. On a single lap if he finishes that lap we are a bit better, but overall it wasn’t a good day.”

---

If I would say I am not frustrated it would not be the truth: Mercedes boss

The Mercedes boss was further questioned if he felt frustrated at the continued niggling issues that have crippled the team. The German team have struggled with understanding the car ever since the ground effect era began. In the last couple of years, they have struggled to put together a consistent front because of the unpredictable nature of their cars. This was supposed to change in 2024, but unfortunately, the team appears to be back to square one.

Questioned if this was frustrating for him, the Mercedes boss said:

“If I would say I am not frustrated it would not be the truth. Certainly, we are because we are trying so much in all directions but don’t seem to have found that silver bullet yet which helps us to get us in the right direction. But we have got to keep trying."

He added:

“We have seen performance in this car before and I just don’t want to go back and say we are not good in these regulations because we have everything to need in order to get on top of that – and we will.”

Mercedes appears to be fifth fastest going into Saturday and it will be interesting to see if it can change its fortunes in qualifying.