Wolff happy for surprise podium, but warns Mercedes after another tough weekend
Having left Baku with a surprise victory, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff insisted that the Brackley-based outfit ended the Baku weekend with a better outcome that they had anticipated before the 51-lap race.
George Russell was unable to challenge for a top position in Saturday's qualifying session at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Briton was then overtaken at the start and looked to be in a lonely race behind reigning champion Max Verstappen.
But once on the hard tyres his car came alive, and he was able to chase the Red Bull down and pass the Dutchman. After their battle, Russell settled for a fifth-place finish, but with Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz ending their race in the wall after a high-speed crash on the penultimate lap, the Mercedes man grabbed a surprise podium finish on the challenging streets of Baku.
Reflecting on the 51-lap Baku round, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff noted that his outfit will not be "fooling" itself as it is perfectly aware of the fact that Ferrari and McLaren are currently quicker at the moment.
"We will take the positive from today that we were able to get one car on the podium. We saw that it was getting feisty at the front and that ultimately ended with Sainz and Perez in the wall. Inheriting a podium and finishing third is better than we expected but we are not fooling ourselves that, on pace today, we were P5.
"We will analyse the race and weekend as a whole. The second half of our Grand Prix on the Hard tyre was encouraging. George was able to keep the temperatures under control and, having driven within himself early in the stint, was able to deliver strong pace in the closing stages.
Lewis Hamilton endured a tough qualifying on Saturday as he struggled for tyre temperatures despite the relatively warm track surface.
The Briton secured a seventh starting position, but he eventually started from the pit lane after taking a raft of new PU components. He managed to overtake some midfield cars early on in the 51-lap race, and he also benefitted from the Perez-Sainz crash to take home some two points.
" It was more difficult for Lewis with the traffic he faced but at moments, he showed good speed. We now head to Singapore, and it is another difficult circuit to know how everyone will perform. We will dig through the data from this weekend, aim to improve the car balance and have a stronger weekend there," concluded Wolff.
Mercedes trackside engineer director Andrew Shovlin confessed that his team was not strong enough to earn a podium finish on merit, but the W15 displayed an encouraging speed on Pirelli's hard tyres.
"It was nice to get a car on the podium, but we aren’t fooling ourselves; this weekend hasn’t been good enough and we need to improve. The first stint for both drivers was weak. We couldn't stop the rear tyres from overheating, and, at one point, it was looking like we were in for a very difficult afternoon.
"The Hard tyre suited us much better. George had clean air to work out how to get the best out of the tyres and maintain them in a good window. That served him well later in the race. We'd lost too much time early on in the race to stick with the leaders, but it was good to get the pass on Verstappen done and that proved crucial for the podium.
"Lewis' race was difficult as he kept bumping into DRS trains and just couldn't make it through them. The closer he got to the cars ahead the more tyre overheating he suffered with.
"Regardless, we were not strong enough here to get a podium on merit and that's what we need to put our efforts into resolving. We've got a different challenge in Singapore next week but are looking forward to getting back on track."
