F1 News: Toto Wolff Addresses "Subpar" Mercedes Dutch GP Performance - "Got It Completely Wrong"
Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff has addressed the "subpar" performance from the team during the Dutch Grand Prix, claiming they got it "completely wrong".
The Dutch Grand Prix was chaotic from the start. Rain began to fall almost immediately leaving teams scrambling to work out the best strategy on how to move forwards. This continued throughout the race with the rain on and off as well as a red flag later on in the race.
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George Russell started from third position but ultimately had to retire from the race after suffering from a puncture following a small collision with Lando Norris. Lewis Hamilton started from thirteenth on the grid and managed to cross the line in sixth position.
During his post-race interview with Sky Sports F1, Wolff commented:
"We stayed out catastrophically too long. We got it completely wrong, and that's annoying because the car had really good pace. From then on, it was just about recovering as well as we could. I would rather have good pace and a fast race car than a mediocre result even if it hurts. We saw at the end on the intermediates that George had Max's pace, and Lewis was very strong behind Sainz. We could've been much further ahead.
"It's still bittersweet because the result is really bad. It could've been, but that doesn't count in our sport. We will review it thoroughly. It's never one person or one department. That was subpar from all of us, and that includes me. It's good when it hurts. When it stings, it sticks."
Mercedes remain in second position in the standings with 255 points behind Red Bull with an incredible 540 points and ahead of Aston Martin with 215 points.