Wolff admits he didn’t think Ferrari would be that fast
MERCEDES boss Toto Wolff admitted Ferrari’s improved pace took him, Lewis Hamilton and the rest of the team by surprise at yesterday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
It was the first time that the previously dominant Mercedes had been beaten on pure pace since a dire weekend at the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix and Wolff hinted it could mean the changing of the guard in Formula One but insisted the team would hit back at the Chinese Grand Prix in two weekends’ time.
“The Ferrari was simply the quicker car,” he said after Sebastian Vettel kept Hamilton at bay for the win. “They way Sebastian held on to Lewis was simply surprising.”
Hamilton had looked a class apart in qualifying and led away from pole position but struggled for early race pace and, following a pit stop, was held up by Red Bull’s
Max Verstappen.
Wolff admitted Mercedes were left scratching their heads at the lack of speed. “We were pushing flat out but were not able to pull away,” he said. “As a general summary, we weren’t quick enough — that’s why Sebastian is the deserved winner.
“For sure we could have done better. Would we have been good enough to win? I don’t know. But why we didn’t have the pace at the beginning of the race in these conditions, I don’t know.”
Wolff was caught on camera banging a fist on a desk in frustration as it became increasingly apparent Vettel was in the ascendancy. He described that role reversal for a team that are bidding for a fourth straight constructors’ title as “personality building” but pledged Hamilton and team-mate Valtteri Bottas would hit back.
“You win some and lose some,” he said. “We have been very fortunate in the last three years that we’ve won most of our races — now it is about accepting that Ferrari have beaten us.
“We had an exceptional run the last three years and we cannot expect that to continue forever.
“We will come out stronger. We didn’t have a great pre-season and we haven’t had a great Sunday today but we will leave no stone unturned to get better.”