Toto Wolff told he "shouldn't sleep well" as Mercedes lag behind F1 rivals

04 August 2023 , 08:42

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Toto Wolff told he "shouldn't sleep well" as Mercedes lag behind F1 rivals

Mercedes Team Principle Toto Wolff should be lying awake at night amid the struggles of his team, according to one former F1 driver.

After a period of dominance between 2013 and 2021 that yielded seven drivers' titles and eight consecutive constructors' crowns, the Silver Arrows have endured a wretched start to F1's new era. The partnership of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton managed just one Grand Prix win between them in 2022, and neither have taken the chequered flag after 12 races in 2023.

Hamilton currently lies fourth in the standings, a mammoth 166 points off runaway leader Max Verstappen. And currently occupying second sport in the constructors' table, the Silver Arrows are 256 points away from the Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

That's led to much debate as to whether fans are being denied a competitive season, with Hamilton himself publicly calling for restrictions to curtail the gap between Red Bull and the rest. Those comments were greeted with irony in many F1 quarters though, given the period of dominance the British driver himself benefited from after initially joining Mercedes.

The recent resurgence of Lando Norris has spelled further trouble for Wolff's team, suggesting McLaren are now threatening to also overhaul them in terms of pace. And Hans-Joachim Stuck, who competed in F1 from 1974 to 1979, thinks that notion is bad news for the Silver Arrows.

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"There are teams like McLaren who - of course also because of the talent of their two drivers - have recognised where they have to go and are now extremely close to this goal," he told . "A big compliment for that! If I were Toto Wolff, I wouldn't sleep well at the moment."

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Toto Wolff is under pressure at Mercedes (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

And Stuck, 72, doesn't endorse the view that new regulations need to be introduced in order to breach the gap between Red Bull and the rest. "In the end, however, the conditions are the same everywhere and everyone has to make the best of it," he argued.

"At the moment only Red Bull is doing that. Ferrari has a good speed, but all kinds of stupid things happen elsewhere and Mercedes is simply not on the level of Red Bull anymore. There's no question about that."

Wolff and co have introduced new upgrades to their W14 vehicles, but as of yet the improvements have not had the desired effect. Indeed, following the race at Spa-Francorchamps, where Hamilton and Russell were fourth and sixth respectively, the Austrian boss has had to investigate the issue of the cars 'bouncing' on the track.

Fraser Watson