Whilst Mercedes look dead set to secure pole position in Monaco next weekend after showing strong form in the final sector of the Circuit de Catalunya, which is similar in terms of corner speed, Toto Wolff has warned that they can’t rely on securing pole and holding up their rivals to win.
The W04 has struggled to transfer its Saturday pace, which has seen it take three poles in five races, to Sunday’s race, resulting in both drivers dropping down the order.
Nico Rosberg qualified on pole, but dropped to sixth, whilst worse still team-mate Lewis Hamilton fell from second to 12th and was lapped by winner Fernando Alonso in the process.
Wolff says they must get on top of their tyre management issues because they can’t rely on the overtaking difficulties in Monte Carlo, whilst ensuring both cars finish in the top ten.
“It is clear to everybody in the team that, while we have a strong car right now, we are not able to use that performance properly on Sunday afternoon,” he said.
“Although overtaking in Monaco is difficult, we cannot afford to be complacent in terms of tyre management and we will need to do significantly better than we managed in Barcelona in order to score a strong result.
“We have only scored points with one of our cars at the past three races and this is something we must improve quickly, beginning next weekend in Monte Carlo.”
