F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Mercedes to go 'full attack', but could split strategies - Wolff

Mercedes will likely go for an aggressive strategy in this afternoon's British Grand Prix where Lewis Hamilton will start on pole while Valtteri Bottas will launch his race from fourth on the grid.

The Finn looked like having a shot at a front-row seat alongside his team mate, but a mistake in the last few corners in qualifying set him back to P4 behind Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

Moving Bottas up the order to help Hamilton fend off a touch threat from Ferrari could imply using different strategies in the Mercedes camp.

"We will be going full attack," said Wolff.

"Part of that could be two different strategies, trying to be aggressive.

"It is a tough championship. The gaps are very marginal, it swings from race to race, and a few thousandths makes all the difference.

"If we can stay in the lead, I think Lewis at Silverstone, he’s a force. But obviously if you’re being overtaken at the start or on the first lap, then the whole thing becomes trickier," said Wolff.

Bottas was also expecting the German outfit to get a bit creative to help him boost his prospects.

"Yeah, we definitely need to find a way," said the Finn.

"Every race now, it’s going to be extremely important for us to try to get more points than Ferrari, and for myself, I think I'm only sixth in the drivers' standings, so for sure I need to start getting those bigger points.

"I think for Lewis, if he gets a good getaway, then it's normally more straightforward, but we'll see."

High temperatures forecasted for Sunday afternoon coupled with Silverstone's degrading surface means tyre management will be paramount, but Bottas believes Mercedes has the edge ove its rival in that department.

"We've seen they suffered with blistering [on Friday], we didn’t," he added.

"But [Sunday]'s again a new day and we're going to be seeing longer stints than in practice two. So there are still a lot of question marks.

"It's going to be an extremely close race with Ferrari, and a lot is going to be down to who can really take care of the tyres, and not overheat or blister them too much."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

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

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Austrian GP: Friday's action in pictures

As predicted, Friday at the Red Bull Ring unfolded under clear blue skies but scorching…

5 hours ago

Russell flags McLaren as genuine threat in Austrian GP heat

Mercedes may have ended Friday at the top of the timesheets in Spielberg, but George…

6 hours ago

Red Bull braces for another major exit as Monaghan linked to Cadillac

The revolving door at Red Bull Racing may not have stopped spinning just yet. A…

6 hours ago

Austrian GP: Hyper quick Antonelli keeps Mercedes on top in FP2

A quick and determined Kimi Antonelli finished Friday’s second practice at the Red Bull Ring…

7 hours ago

Austrian Grand Prix Free Practice 2 - Results

Full results from Free Practice 2 for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull…

7 hours ago

Verstappen wants F1 to avoid Spa 24 Hours clash in 2027

Max Verstappen is laser focused on Red Bull's home Formula 1 race in Spielberg, but…

8 hours ago