F1 News: Toto Wolff Reveals Catastrophic News For Mercedes Ahead Of Austrian Grand Prix - 'Gap To Him Is Huge'

The Mercedes chief has revealed the 'huge' gap in straight line speed to Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

2024 Austrian Grand Prix, Friday / LAT Images

A single kilometer's difference in speed can change the tides of a Formula 1 championship - a fact that Red Bull is no stranger to. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted that his cars are facing a 12kph difference in their competition with the Milton Keynes team, highlighting their catastrophic lack of pace.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen once again placed at the front of the grid in Qualifying yesterday, in front of Lando Norris and George Russell who trailed behind in P2 and P3 respectively. The latter was a whole 5-tenths off the pace, marking a worrying weekend for the Bracley team.

“Max is driving in another hemisphere. He’s gone," admitted the team chief to Sky Sports F1, quoited by PlanetF1. “The gap to him is huge, and that on a circuit with a lap time of just one minute. I think the order will probably remain the same."

Saturday's Sprint Race was a look through the crystal ball for fans as Verstappen surged ahead of the pack, despite an initial tussle with the two McLaren drivers at the beginning of the race.

“We lose 12kph compared to Verstappen, then of course you can’t achieve anything," he said, highlighting just how potent the RB20s are in a straight line, before adding: "But I think it’s really just a downforce problem. We don’t have enough downforce here in the fast corners."

7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton echoed his boss' sentiments:

“We just don’t have enough downforce. That’s all we got. I don’t know the answer. Honestly, I don’t know the answer.

“If I could take a piece of downforce and chuck it on the back, I would," he said, emphasizing the lack of rear traction. "But that’s not how it goes. We’re just going to continue to work on improvement.

“But the notion of us potentially winning a race this year, when you get a half-a-second gap like today, makes it a little bit further down the road, but we’ve got to keep pushing.”

On the other side of the Mercedes garage, Russell shares his pesimism for what's to come:

“I think it’s a bit more challenging here," before hinting at his strategy for the start the race start. “I think these guys always get their elbows out. So maybe this time it’s, you know, sit back and watch it all take place."

He further commented on last week's Spanish Grand Prix, where he quickly lost pace after an on-track fight with Norris:

“But I think, you know, last week I lost a lot of time battling with Lando and probably focused too much on the guys ahead of me and ultimately that cost me the position to Lewis and almost to Charles as well.”