The Mercedes staff foremost, Toto Wolff, has echoed the phrases of Lewis Hamilton in bluntly describing the “bitter reality” in their deficit to the Formula One championship leaders Max Verstappen and Red Bull.
After being comprehensively overwhelmed once more by means of Verstappen on the Hungarian Grand Prix, Wolff noticed that at the easiest the Mercedes may handiest be regarded as fast in a box of automobiles that excluded the Red Bulls. Verstappen received on the Hungaroring by means of virtually 34 seconds from McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Hamilton had began on pole however used to be handed by means of Verstappen, Norris and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the course of the opening corners. The British driving force got here again strongly within the ultimate levels however may nonetheless handiest arrange fourth. He mentioned afterwards he felt he had now not been functioning at his highest for greater than a 12 months and insisted the lead to Hungary mirrored the truth that in spite of the pole, Mercedes weren’t speedy sufficient.
Wolff felt their automotive’s final tempo used to be sufficient to have overwhelmed the McLarens however admitted Red Bull remained in a distinct league to Mercedes. “We can talk it up and say we could have been or would have been second,” he mentioned. “But that is irrelevant because you have a car in front that is 34 seconds clear and probably he was cruising for a long time. That’s the bitter reality.”
After a captivating qualifying session on Saturday in which Hamilton pipped Verstappen by three‑thousandths of a second, there was optimism a decent fight might be on the cards for Sunday. But Red Bull’s race pace, with a series of upgrades employed in Budapest, proved matchless. Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Pérez, also moved through the pack from ninth to finish third.
So much was the differential Wolff said that while Mercedes had some form in Hungary it was only in terms of light-heartedly comparing the rest of the field to representing F1’s feeder series.
“As surprising as it sounds in terms of pace, it was quick in terms of the rest of the world,” Wolff said. “In the F2 pack it was quick, the F1 car won by 34 seconds…”
With their 12th win in a row in Budapest on Sunday, Red Bull broke McLaren’s 35-year-old record of 11 consecutive wins in 1988. That feat was celebrated by the team principal, Christian Horner.
“To break that record from 1988, which I remember watching [Ayrton] senna, [Alain] Prost, the great McLaren team led by Ron Dennis,” he said. “To suppose it has taken 35 years however we’re the staff to damage that, specifically to consider the standard of the opposition we’re competing towards, is an exceptional fulfillment.”
Wolff also reaffirmed that it was up to his team to do better in a season dominated by Red Bull, which – as he knows from the periods of Mercedes supremacy – is not appealing to fans.
“We simply wish to paintings higher and get ourselves again into rivalry,” he said. “Many fans would have left frustrated after Saturday thinking that we were really close together, keen to watch what happens on Sunday and then they see one car just disappear into the sunset.”
Wolff said Mercedes would continue to push to improve this year’s car, especially given the exceptional advances McLaren have made with their most recent set of upgrades. He also confirmed work on next year’s car was proceeding apace and that the team were investigating all options in bridging the gap to Red Bull.
“We want a large number of adjustments in 2024,” he mentioned. “The direction our team is developing is really quite interesting – we see opportunities and we are leaving no stone unturned, looking at every single concept. Every single concept that we have seen on other cars, whether that is powerful or not, whether this is of any use to us.”