Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff is hoping to transition to cooler conditions at next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix after the team struggled in the Hungarian heat.
Mercedes’ two-win streak came to an end at the Hungaroring, with the hot temperatures not befitting Brackley’s W15 and the team’s performance falling short against their McLaren and Red Bull rivals.
But despite the hot challenge, Lewis Hamilton secured a third-place podium finish after a sharp drive and a close battle with Max Verstappen, who ended the race after colliding at the first corner.
Eventually, both men managed to get their cars to the chequered flag, with Hamilton claiming his 200th podium finish in F1 and Verstappen taking fifth.
For George Russell, a disorganised qualifying session on Saturday left him a lowly 17th place, but the Briton ran a long opening stunt before being overtaken by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez at the second pitstop.
He eventually finished eighth at the checkered flag.
“I don’t think these conditions are right for us,” Wolff said. Sky F1 After the game.
“It must be considered a success to be on the podium in third place in hot weather, but yesterday the other cars had too many problems and we couldn’t get a better position.”
McLaren were concerned that Hamilton might overtake Lando Norris late in the race, but Wolff made the team’s strategy clear.
“No, I think McLaren is way out of range,” Wolff said.
“We probably stretched Lewis’ tyres too much on the second stunt and he ended up going down. Anyway, we learned a lot. But congratulations to McLaren, they deserved first and second places. It should have been done a long time ago.”
Finally, when asked about the team orders controversy that has engulfed McLaren, Wolff seemed sympathetic, given the headaches Mercedes strategists have had in the past.
“We’ve been there,” Wolf admitted with a smile.
As Spa-Francorchamps and its iconic changing weather conditions loom, Wolff joked that he was “hoping for a freezing Belgium”, underlining just how important the weather is to performance.
