Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff says he is ‘very concerned’ by their recent poor starts, which have compromised their races and cost them victory in Hungary on Sunday.
At the British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were passed by both Williams’ cars, whilst the two Ferraris jumped them in Hungary. Whilst they recovered to take a 1-2 in Britain, it wasn’t the case at the weekend as they dropped further down the grid.
Speaking after the race, Wolff called it an ‘unacceptable’ situation and when asked how concerned he was by their recent start problems, he said: “Very concerned.”
“We got jumped by two Williams’ last time, and jumped by two Ferraris this time. This was what triggered the whole mess, and then the lap one incident.
“We need to get on top of the situation. It is not acceptable and it needs to be analysed why it happened. It is many various reasons, it is not one particular one. If you look at it, not good.”
The Austrian doesn’t believe it will be an easy fix as it’s not one particular problem that’s bogging them down.
“It is various issues,” he explained. “It is very difficult to get the calibration right.
“We had two very good practice starts off the line and then when it mattered, on the actual race start, we had too much wheel spin. Then you get overtaken in a way you cannot recover.”
Their problems could continue with new start procedures taking effect at the Belgian GP in a month.
Discussion about this post