'Massive fight' with Ferrari is stretching Mercedes, says Wolff
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits that the fight with Ferrari is forcing Mercedes to push the limits – and cites the race power unit failure for Valtteri Bottas in Spain as an example.
Wolff revealed that the Finn’s retirement was caused by a previously unseen turbo problem, which took the shine off Lewis Hamilton’s win.
“It's always good to come away from a race weekend with a points advantage, no matter how small,” said Wolff. “But the gap is just that, very small. We are in a massive fight with Ferrari. On one side, this is very exciting and challenging. But on the other side, it is going to stretch us to our limits. You cannot base your current assessment on the balance of power on just Barcelona.
“Every weekend will push us to the limit; this is the new reality of Formula One in 2017. The last three years were extraordinary. But this season I have re-discovered why I love the sport. I love the intense competition. This competition means that you won't be winning easily, but that you'll have a fierce fight on your hands. Because of that, the feeling is even greater when you manage to come out on top, as we did in Spain.”
Regarding the Bottas failure, he noted: “It was painful to lose 15 valuable points with Valtteri retiring from P3. We've identified the root cause of the problem, which was the turbo. We haven't seen that defect before, which shows you that you need to be double diligent. This is a technical sport and if you stretch your limits, you'll encounter technical problems.”
Wolff is expecting another big challenge this weekend.
“We expect Monaco to be a completely different ball game to Barcelona. The circumstances, working environment and driving challenges are completely different to anywhere else, and you need to get everything exactly right if you want to perform to your maximum around those streets. Not every factor is under your control, either, so you need to turn fortune in your favor at the right time if you want everything to come together.”
