After so many "unlucky situations," the Mercedes team leader believes it is just a matter of time before the "pendulum swings" in his driver's favour.
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Toto Wolff has thrown his support behind Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton after the seven-time world champion finished eighth in the Monaco Grand Prix. After so many “unlucky situations,” the Mercedes team leader believes it is just a matter of time before the “pendulum swings” in his driver’s favour. George Russell, Hamilton’s teammate, finished fifth in Monaco, continuing his trend of placing in the top five in every 2022 race so far. Russell is fourth in the drivers’ standings with 84 points, while Hamilton is sixth with just 50. Despite the distance, Wolff believes his two drivers are pretty much on the same pace.
“I think when you look at the bad spells that Lewis had – I mean look at the race today, stuck again, contact with Esteban [Ocon], stuck behind Fernando [Alonso],” said Wolff. “The red flag yesterday in qualifying and then you know what happens in races before. I think the pendulum will swing so that these unlucky situations will stop with Lewis.”
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“He could have been right there and closed on Lando’s [Norris] pit stop window or even fight with George and Lando in the front because that was his pace. They are very much on the same pace, one practice the one leads, then the other, and that is great how also they work together to get our car straight, because we need to get that car straight.”
After a great performance in Barcelona, Mercedes went into the Monaco weekend full of optimism, but after struggling to keep up with Red Bull and Ferrari, Wolff was questioned if his team’s troubles were track-specific. According to the Austrian, they are simply not as swift as their competitors, which he considers unacceptable. “If the problem is that we can say well that this is a track where it’s going a little bit better like it was in Barcelona or a track that is worse like in Monaco,” said Wolff. “I think we are the third team. We are not second and we are not fourth.”
“We have two extremely strong drivers but it’s a huge annoyance for all of us that the gap is about the same. If you are looking at it optimistically it’s five-tenths, if you are looking at it pessimistically it’s more like eight-tenths. And that is clearly for all of us at Mercedes, not acceptable.”
