Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted that the Silver Arrows “experienced some bouncing” at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix last weekend.
Lewis Hamilton had to settle for fourth at Spa-Francorchamps whilst George Russell salvaged sixth, following a disappointing qualifying.
Hamilton had been in contention for a podium last Sunday but didn’t quite have the pace to catch Charles Leclerc, something which resulted in the seven-time World Champion pitting in the closing stages to set the fastest lap.
Mercedes were arguably third in the pecking order at the most recent round, behind Red Bull and Ferrari.
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It was a difficult weekend for Mercedes where the W14 never looked comfortable, with Wolff having revealed that bouncing returned.
The bouncing the side experienced was their “main limiting factor”, with Wolff being aware that the Brackley-based team have “some work to do”.
“We struggled with the car at points today and experienced some bouncing,” reflected Wolff.
“That was the main limiting factor this weekend, so we’ve got some work to do to understand that more.
“We’ve got the shutdown coming up, but we will get our heads down this week, review the data, and see what we can do to make progress.”
Despite the struggles in Belgium, the Mercedes boss remains convinced that the Germans are on the “right trajectory”.
Mercedes have made significant progress since introducing their new concept at the Monaco Grand Prix, with the former dominant side have built a 51-point advantage over Aston Martin in the Constructors’ Championship.
Wolff is confident that Mercedes are now going in the right “direction”, making the Austrian confident that the team will return from the summer break “refreshed and re-energised”.
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“Going into the summer break, I feel that we are on the right trajectory overall,” Wolff added.
“There is so much hard work going across the Team to upgrade the car and help us to make those important steps forward.
“I believe we are making progress and the direction we are going in is the right one. We will go away, recharge over the summer break and come back refreshed and re-energised.”