Toto Wolff has called for changes to be made to the Circuit de Monaco after witnessing a frustrating Monaco Grand Prix for his driver Lewis Hamilton, who was unable to make on-track passes despite having a much faster car than some of those ahead.
Hamilton was unable to pass BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon despite his pace advantage, and later in the race he got stuck behind the other Alpine of Fernando Alonso, who was backing the pack up and allowing the top six to get away.
Wolff, the Team Principal at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, says the venue and spectacle of the Monaco Grand Prix are both fantastic, but having a procession when the racing gets underway is not great for the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.
“That was the usual chaotic race in Monaco – and once again, a lesson that we need to look at this circuit layout, so people can’t drive round five seconds off the pace in a procession,” said Wolff.
“This is a fantastic venue and spectacle – but it would be great if the racing could be at the same level.”
Wolff did praise the race directors for remaining calm when the heavy rain caused problems with television connectivity, and he does not think they could have done anything differently.
“With the length of the race, and the delays and interruptions, it felt more like an NFL game than a Grand Prix – but I’m not sure that much else could have been done,” he said.
“We need to give the race directors credit for managing a difficult situation; the rain at the beginning was torrential, then there was an issue with the connectivity for the TV broadcast which meant we couldn’t get going.”
Whereas Hamilton’s afternoon was compromised by the Alpine’s, Wolff was happy to see George Russell continue his strong start to his Mercedes career with another top five finish, and he believes the other Mercedes would have been in the fight for fifth had he not been delayed.
“When we finally did, it was a strong afternoon for George – and a really frustrating one for Lewis,” Wolff added. “There were the laps stuck with Esteban, who got penalised for the collision, then the slow pace from Alonso, without which Lewis could have been racing Lando [Norris] and George.
“It was another reminder that track position is everything here – and that we are the third team on the road. We have learned some important lessons about the car this weekend, and that learning will be the basis of rebuilding our performance to fight again at the front of the field.”
“It’s been a frustrating weekend for the team and drivers” – Andrew Shovlin
Andrew Shovlin, the Track Engineering Director at Mercedes, admitted it had been a frustrating weekend for the team as they were unable to find the pace in the W13 to be in the fight for victory.
After the positive weekend in Spain, hopes were high that Mercedes had turned a corner when it came to the competitiveness of their car, but they were dealt a blow when it was quickly apparent that they were not in the fight with Scuderia Ferrari or Oracle Red Bull Racing in Monaco.
Shovlin says there is plenty of work to do before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix next month to understand why they were so far off the pace in Monaco, but he is confident they can continue to improve the car and give the drivers a chance to join the fight for race victories.
“It’s been a frustrating weekend for the team and drivers, we weren’t anywhere near quick enough on one lap but even in the race we didn’t have enough pace,” said Shovlin.
“George did a good job to take P5 from Lando on the dry transition and also to hold him behind at the end of the race; luckily, he was only there for one lap. Lewis had a tough time sandwiched between the Alpines for most of the race – we just couldn’t find a way of putting him in free air without him needing to overtake which is near impossible.
“It also seemed that the cold conditions were making life quite difficult for the tyres and both our cars dropped off towards the end of the race.
“We’ve clearly got work to do ahead of Baku as there are a lot of similarities between the cornering sections and this track has highlighted our weaknesses.”
