F1 News: Mercedes Chief Gives Promising Update After "Inexcusable Performance" In Brazil

“We have been hard at work to identify the wrong turn we took with the set-up; we have done that," said Toto Wolff

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed that the Mercedes team has zeroed in on the issues that set them back during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend in Brazil.

Both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell's cars encountered heavy tire wear during the race, causing rival cars to pass their W14s with ease. The seven-time-world champion went on to secure P8 despite starting fifth. 

The spectacle was quite poor, with Wolff claiming the weekend in Brazil to be the worst in 13 years. Quite naturally, he seemed quite frustrated with the situation which led him to vent his anger at the "miserable thing." Here's what he said after the Sao Paulo GP:

"Inexcusable performance. There’s even no words for that.

"That car finished second last week and the week before, and whatever we did to it was horrible.

"Lewis survived out there, but George, I can only feel for the two driving such a miserable thing.

"It’s on a knife’s edge."

Consequently, he launched an investigation to find the root cause of the problem which led them to drop pace and in just a week's time, the team got to the source of the issue. Speaking to the media, Wolff explained:

“Brazil was probably our most difficult weekend of the season.

“After promising performances in the US and Mexico, we didn't perform at our best in Brazil.

“We have been hard at work to identify the wrong turn we took with the set-up; we have done that.

“We understand our mistakes and can explain our performance loss to the field. That's important as we look to secure P2 in the Constructors' Championship.”

The Mercedes car went through several ups and downs this season which made their race outcomes quite unpredictable. As a result, despite Wolff claiming that the team has zeroed in on the problem, it remains to be seen if the W14s are able to bounce back to glory in Las Vegas this weekend.