Toto Wolf bemoans Mercedes’ double DNF at Australian GP, claims “I want to punch myself on the nose”

Toto Wolff is devastated after disappointing performance of Mercedes at the Australian GP.

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff (Via: IMAGO)

The Australian Grand Prix was one to forget for Mercedes. The Silver Arrows were already struggling throughout the weekend at the High-Speed track, with seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton being knocked out at Q2. The race got even worse, as Hamilton retired at lap 15 due to a power unit failure.

His teammate George Russell also had a massive crash on the last lap while chasing two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso. He crashed due to dirty air that was massively increased when Alonso started braking very early in the corners. With both cars out of the GP, Team Principal Toto Wolff spoke about his thoughts on Mercedes’s lack of performance and said he wanted to punch himself in the nose after the disappointing season that his team is going through.

So, obviously on one side, I want to punch myself on the nose. But on the other side, it is also a testimony of that when you get things right, you can turn it around pretty quickly and you just got to continue to believe. But at the moment it is very, a very tough time.

Toto Wolff said via Motorsports.com.

Wolff also spoke about how from the simulations and testing the team thought that the W15 was a better car in comparison to the previous years. Mercedes seems to have really regressed with their car this year, but Wolff still seems to believe that if they work hard, they can turn around this shocking start to the season.

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Toto Wolff compares Mercedes’s performance to Ferrari and Mclaren

After three-time World Champion Max Verstappen‘s retirement early in the race, Ferrari and Mclaren were the main contenders for the win, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc making it a 1-2. They were followed by the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

With Toto Wolff’s team being nowhere in contention for the win, the Austrian spoke about how Mercedes has regressed in comparison to last year. Wolff spoke about how his team’s lap times are very inconsistent and they’ve fallen behind on overall performance massively.

So clearly, we started the season in the belief that this car is better than it was last year. Then you look at last year and look at these guys - Leclerc crashed out and Sainz was fourth and got relegated to outside of the top 10 because of a penalty. [Now], they are 40s ahead of us.

Toto Wolff said.

Wolff seemed to be shocked and unaware of the reason why his team had fallen behind, as Mercedes thought that the W15 was a good car to build and improve on. With Ferrari and McLaren just behind Red Bulls, it seems that the Silver Arrows are on the back foot in terms of everything related to their car.