Motorsport boss Toto Wolff didn’t hold back in his criticism of Mercedes, after seeing the team comprehensively beaten by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in Montreal.
Canada has been a happy hunting ground for the German manufacturer in the hybrid era with Lewis Hamilton taking three consecutive wins since 2015 but on Sunday, a second place for Valtteri Bottas was the best result they could achieve as the world champion slumped in fifth.
Given the strength of Ferrari on the straights this season and after Mercedes was forced to drop a planned engine upgrade for the race after a “quality issue”, the outcome perhaps wasn’t surprising but Wolff doesn’t see that as an excuse.
“Not at all. It is a shit result for us. I have to put it like that,” he told Swiss broadcaster ORF. “It is a strong track for us, but all weekend long we did little mistakes, from the beginning on.
“We fall behind in every aspect. This is a track where we should have maximised points. It was not about performing damage limitation.”\
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The consequence of Hamilton’s poorest result other than retiring at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was that Vettel re-took the lead in the Drivers’ standings by a single point at the third way stage.
But though many expect the performance to be a one-off blip, the Mercedes chief also has an alternative view.
“This is a major wake-up call for every single member of the team,” Wolff said. “I’m the opposite of confident moving forward. Everybody needs to assess how to improve our performance.
“This year’s championship is going to be decided by the one who makes the least mistakes. This is the new reality.
“It is a three-way team fight and six cars can win races. We cannot take anything for granted and think it is going to be a walk in the park.”