Mercedes will DESTROY designs for next season’s car after nightmare at Brazilian Grand Prix, Toto Wolff admits… as embattled team boss claims ‘something fundamentally wrong’
Embattled Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has admitted he will tear up Mercedes’ car design for next year.
The 51-year-old Austrian is under the greatest pressure of his career to piece together the threads of his once dominant team and cannot explain the exceptionally poor performance at Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton was 1 minute and 3 seconds behind winner Max Verstappen, while George Russell retired with an engine failure.
The Silver Arrows were well off the pace and were only the sixth best team behind Red Bull, McLaren, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Alpine.
Wolff said: ‘A lot of change is needed. Next year we need a different car. And today proves that it is the right thing to do.
Mercedes’ performance during the Brazilian Grand Prix has led to a reconsideration with a view to next season
Team boss Toto Wolff has revealed that the designs for next season’s car are now being torn to pieces
‘At least we know that the change process is the right one. It feels terrible for the whole team. And I wish we could start the new season with an emphasis on the new car.
‘There is something fundamentally wrong mechanically. It’s not a rear wing and it’s not that the car is a little too high. Because we’re talking about a millimeter or two. That’s an achievement, but it doesn’t explain a totally off weekend.
“This car, the development of this car, is more of a band-aid on something that’s wrong, and it shows that it’s so unpredictable that it can swing either way.”
Wolff has been at a loss for months about what to do with the car’s design, and a recent upgrade carried out in Austin two weeks ago failed to produce reliable results.