Mercedes' painful wake-up call: 'This was a shit result for us!'

40

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff put it as he saw it Sunday afternoon in Montreal, describing the Silver Arrows' clear defeat at the hands of Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel as "a shit result".

In the past, Lewis Hamilton has more often than not owned his rivals around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, securing six wins in the last 11 years.

But the reigning world champion never came close to that 50 percent win-rate on Sunday, ending his day a distant fifth and happy to have even seen the checkered flag after encountering an engine issue during the race.

Team mate Valtteri Bottas tried to give Vettel a run for his money, and indeed remained in close contact with the Ferrari driver in the first half of the race but then fell back as the laps unfolded.

Hamilton 'grateful' to make it to the end following engine worries

Bottas' second-place finish was no consolation for Wolff.

"No, not at all…" said the Austrian.

"This is a shit result for us. I have to put it like that. It is a strong track for us, but all weekend long we have made little mistakes, from the start.

"The only feeling I have is that we have to wake up.

"We fell behind in every respect. This is a track where we should have maximised points – it is not about damage limitation for us."

Ahead of very hectic schedule that will see teams contend with five races in six weeks, Wolff will rally the troops at Brackley and conduct some thorough analysis on its relative under-performance.
"Yes, that’s necessary, we will look at that internally," he said.

"We now need to reflect in the right way, understand where we can find more performance and respond in Paul Ricard in two weeks' time."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.