Wolff promises "updates" to the W16 after disappointing gap to McLaren
Although Mercedes displayed encouraging one-lap pace in both the sprint and the main qualifying session at the Miami Grand Prix, the Brackley-based outfit struggled for race pace on Sunday.
Coming off the back of sensational performances both in the sprint and the main qualifying, Mercedes struggled for race pace in the 57-lap Miami race.
Although Andrea Kimi Antonelli was running in second early on, he was powerless to hold the faster McLarens at bay. The Italian then lost time during a slow pit stop before he lost further race time compared to his team-mate George Russell, who could shorten the duration of his own pit stop thanks to a virtual safety car interruption. Antonelli ended up sixth behind the Williams of Alexander Albon.
Russell looked to struggle for grip during the opening stint on the hards, but he benefitted from a cheap stop during the VSC. The Briton rejoined the track just ahead of Verstappen, and managed to stay in front of the Dutchman to pick up yet another podium.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff was left to rue the deficit to the field-leading McLaren, but he has indicated that the Brackley-based outfit might bring upgrades to the W16 in the coming races.
"George drove a great race today and did everything he needed to do to claim third. It was another mature performance where he got everything out of the car that was there. Obviously, the gap to the McLarens was large though. That is disappointing but we are working hard to bring updates that will hopefully close that deficit.
"We’ve seen these performance gaps fluctuate over these first six races, and some weekends other teams get right in the mix at the front, but they are the team to beat right now."
As for Antonelli, Wolff insisted that while "Kimi showed his talent this weekend but had a race where he will take away some good learnings. That is completely normal for a rookie driver, and one that is just 18 years old.
"The race management will come as he continues to build his experience and we’re now looking forward to the upcoming triple-header in Europe. The next race will mark Kimi’s first ever home Grand Prix at Imola and I am sure he will be looking forward to that."
Mercedes' trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin insisted that while the Brackley-based squad gained points over Ferrari and Red Bull in the teams' standings, they will need to unlock more performance from the W16 to close down the gap to the field-leading McLaren.
"Congratulations to George on his fourth podium of the season. We benefited from the deployment of the Virtual Safety Car to jump Verstappen, but that is always one of the upsides of running long.
"We had opted to start George on the Hard compound so that we could do this and that decision paid off. We also estimated the chance of a wet race at about 50% but, despite a cell getting incredibly close, the rain just passed us by.
Shovlin continues: "Whilst George benefited from the Virtual Safety Car, Kimi lost out having stopped just before it came out. We had to box him to protect from Albon in the Williams who had the chance to deploy the undercut. Some traffic in the pit lane cost him and ultimately his pace on the Hard tyre consigned him to P6. It has still been another good weekend for Kimi though as he continues his development.
"McLaren were the class of the field once again today and we are working hard to close that gap. Overall, we leave Miami pleased we have added more points to our tally compared to Red Bull and Ferrari, but knowing we have got work to do if we are to challenge at the very front each weekend. Our single lap has been a strength, but we need to improve our long run pace. Hopefully we can make some gains in this area starting in Imola in two weeks’ time."
