Wolff admits Qatar ‘not such a good day in the office’ as Mercedes go backwards in Grand Prix

The Qatar Grand Prix didn’t go to plan for Mercedes, despite George Russell inheriting pole position from Max Verstappen after qualifying. Russell had to pit twice on his way to fourth place, while Lewis Hamilton came home outside the points – the first time this season he’s failed to score when seeing the chequered flag.

Hamilton picked up two penalties on his was to finishing 12th, and at one point asked if he could retire the car on what proved a difficult day for the Silver Arrows. Team boss Toto Wolff was quick to acknowledge what went wrong – and why the blame needed to go more on the car than on his drivers.

“That was not such a good day in the office, we lost all the balance in the car from yesterday to today, horrific understeer with both of them and simply the pace was gone which was weird to understand,” he said afterwards.

READ MORE: Russell bewildered by ‘flattering’ P4 finish in Qatar as he looks back on ‘funny’ weekend

“The race was bad, I think the car was super difficult for both of them to drive. It just didn’t turn, like I said when the grip kicks in, the understeer – there’s an unbearable understeer and both of them suffered with that.”

Russell qualified second for the Sprint, and in the 19-lap dash to the line managed to hold onto the back of the two McLaren cars despite running in their dirty air. But that pace was not apparent in the Grand Prix, and he was forced into an early pit stop for the hard tyres after coming under pressure from Oscar Piastri.

That proved the wrong strategy with hindsight, as it dropped him into traffic – not helped by a lengthy pit stop either. He wound up being the only front-running car to pit again for tyres, although that stop was at least mitigated by being under Safety Car conditions.

READ MORE: Verstappen delighted with Qatar GP victory as he praises team after rollercoaster weekend

“I think if the race had happened yesterday then it was a winnable race but on sheer pace, I think we would have been behind Lando [Norris] and behind Max [Verstappen], so it would have been a solid podium but obviously too much went wrong,” said Wolff.

“This [race] started to go really south after 15 or so laps, when we realised the car wouldn’t balance itself out, the understeer crept in and we started to lose real ground to the guys driving in front of us and Piastri behind us. We felt going onto the other tyre and adjusting the front flap on the wing would ... put us in a more happier situation, which it didn’t at all.”

Russell recovered to finish fourth – helped by some late chaos, which included retirements and punctures for some of his rivals. Hamilton was one of those drivers to pick up a puncture, on an eventful night where he was also penalised for a false start and for speeding in the pit lane.

The seven-time world champion sounded emotional over the radio as he continued to struggle during the Grand Prix, in a similar vein to some of his radio messages in Brazil – where he seemed to imply he was ready to leave the team behind.

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But Wolff offered an explanation for Hamilton’s struggles and why he might be finding life in the cockpit of the W15 more difficult than Russell.

“It came to a point where it almost didn’t make any sense to continue. But if you park the car, you carry [the penalty] into Abu Dhabi, that’s why we had to take it,” Wolff explained.

“I think one of [Hamilton’s] strengths is the way he’s able to break late and attack the corner and that car can’t take it… it is clear when you are very strong on the brake, you need a car that is very strong on turning in and you just hit the throttle, you needs lots of traction and when the car is not giving you any of that, it is very difficult to drive around.

“He wears his heart on his sleeve, you express your emotions and that is absolutely allowed, that is okay.”