'No quick fix' for Mercedes ailments, admits Wolff

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says that there is no magic overnight fix to get the team back on winning form in 2018.

The reigning world championship squad has been rocked by its performance in the first three Grand Prix of the season. Not only have the Silver Arrows failed to record a single win, their cars have been notably off the pace compared to Ferrari.

According to German publication Auto Motor und Sport, that's an accurate picture of the state of their respective power units.

"GPS measurements show that in terms of engine performance, Ferrari has caught up with Mercedes," the magazine said. "Mercedes increased mileage from 5,000 to 8,000 kilometres, but Ferrari found even more power over the winter."

The report also said that Mercedes' previous engine superiority had been reduced by precautions over the FIA clamping down on oil consumption. Meanwhile Ferrari is said to be pushing ahead with a "full risk" strategy.

Whatever the reasons, Wolff sees no easy answers to Mercedes' current plight.

“In Formula 1 there is never a quick fix,” Wolff told the official Formula 1 website.

"You can see how fast the picture can change in testing and in Melbourne," he commented. "People predicted that we would run away with the championship because the car was so dominant.

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"Here we go, three races in, and we are not in so far," he admitted. “We lacked pace. It’s just all around not the level that we all expect and hope."

The one exception to the shortfall as far as Wolff is concerned is the performance of Valtteri Bottas, who was second in both Bahrain and Shanghai.

"The whole weekend was not good for all of us - the only thing that I see positive was Valtteri’s race," he said.

“That was awesome. No mistakes, [just] unlucky with the Safety Car.

"Even with the Ricciardo overtake, if Valtteri hadn’t opened the door last minute, Ricciardo would have taken him out. So Valtteri’s the only one who was without fault."

And Wolff certainly isn't giving up on another championship-winning season for the team.

"We just need to stick our heads together," he insisted. "Stay calm, get the head down and come up with some solutions. Huge confidence in the team, they’ve proved that in the past.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.