Toto Wolff has claimed that Mercedes made “solid progress” at the Japanese Grand Prix, despite a miserable ninth-place finish for Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton cut a disconsolate figure at Suzuka as Mercedes’ hard tyre strategy backfired after a crash on the first lap stopped the race. His team-mate George Russell only fared slightly better, finishing seventh as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed the victory.
The results were in-keeping with Mercedes’ season so far, with Russell seventh and Hamilton ninth in the overall standings after four races. Hamilton blamed the tyres for his poor showing in Japan, but also complained that “in general the car was pretty bad" in a damning assessment of the team he is leaving to join Ferrari next year.
Mercedes team principal Wolff clearly doesn’t agree and painted a positive picture as the Formula 1 season moves on to Shanghai this weekend. “We are looking forward to racing in Shanghai for the first time in five years and bringing F1 back to the Chinese fans. With a sell-out crowd expected, I am sure it will be a fantastic event,” he said.
“It will be an interesting weekend on track. With new cars, new tyres, and changes to the track surface since we last raced in China, there will be plenty of unknowns. We have the first Sprint weekend of the year too and that brings its own challenges.
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“The changes to the format, including a second parc fermé, will be an improvement to the rhythm of the weekend – and the single hour of practice still puts pressure on to make correct decisions with imperfect information. We are looking forward to that test, though.
“The headline results didn't necessarily show it, but we made solid progress with our car in Japan. We are looking forward to building on that this weekend.”
Lewis Hamilton has been unhappy with Mercedes' performance this season (Peter Fox/Getty Images)HAVE YOUR SAY! What did you make of Mercedes' performance at the Japanese Grand Prix? Comment below.
Hamilton gave a very different impression of Mercedes’ performance in Japan. "There were two really terrible [sets of] hard tyres to run through. It was a real challenge today,” he said. “I had huge understeer for the first stint and couldn't turn the car. The hard tyre was pretty bad and the medium was much better. In hindsight, we should have kept two medium tyres, but in general the car was pretty bad today."
Speaking on the weekend, Wolff was happy and blamed the first few laps. "The second and third stints were super quick – we would have been racing for a podium, but for an atrocious first stint,” he said. “We need to find out what it was."
Hamilton is set to replace Carlos Sainz at Ferrari next season, but is currently being shown up by the Spaniard, who finished third in Japan after taking the win in Melbourne in the previous race. The contrast in performances has left Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur tired of fielding questions about the duo. “We have the same question each weekend. Do a copy paste of my reply of last week. Next one," he said.
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