Mercedes finished the Australian GP with zero points on the board and with a lot of work to do to close the gap to its rivals, a truly “brutal feeling” for the team, Toto Wolff stated.
The first heartbreak for Mercedes arrived with Lewis Hamilton retiring in the first stages of the race due to an engine issue. Then, after struggling with pace the whole race, George Russell hit the wall while trying to keep up with Fernando Alonso for P6, thus leaving Mercedes empty-handed.
Wolff admitted that the Brackley-based outfit “lacked pace” in many stages of the Grand Prix, and the team is not “where it wants to be.”
“There were times in the race where we massively lacked pace. And then there were times at the end when you compare like for like, we were doing OK. Still not where we want to be.
“But you could see in the second stint, Fernando on the medium [tire], we couldn’t come anywhere close. The lap times looked like a second off the McLaren’s.
“Then suddenly the last [stint], when we went for it, not worrying too much, the lap times were competitive. Not [a match for] Sainz. But it was much better.
“At the moment it is very, a very tough time.”
Wolff concluded by saying that going home with zero points is “tough to take” and he cannot be positive and optimistic about the current situation.
“Tough to take. Super tough. I would be lying if I said that, at any moment, I feel positive about the situation and optimistic.
“But you just need to overcome the negative thoughts and say we will turn this around. But today it feels very, very, very brutal.”