Wolff: Mercedes need to get their act together

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted that the cars of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas are lacking power in the high altitude surroundings of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, saying the whole team need to "get their act together" to improve before Sunday's GP.

During Friday's free practice sessions, Hamilton in particular was complaining of a lack of power on the track, as he witnessed Max Verstappen record a time 1.5 seconds faster than his own in his Renault-powered Red Bull.

Wolff confessed to the engine issues, and suggested the team have work to do to rectify the situation before qualifying and the race proper.

“The altitude is totally different here,” Wolff said.

“You can see that it is lacking power. Renault seem to be in good shape in the first free practice so it will be interesting to see where they are tomorrow.

“It was like this in the past years and I think the Red Bull with the Renault have made a step forward.”

Burning the midnight oil... ????????#MexicoGP ???????? #F1ESTA pic.twitter.com/0xqYkZhc67 — Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) October 27, 2018

Hamilton needs to finish in the top seven of the Mexican GP, or hope Sebastian Vettel doesn't win, to be crowned 2018 drivers' champion, but Mercedes need all the points they can get to maintain their lead in the constructors' championship, and Wolff has urged his team to sort out their engine problems to make it happen.

“You need to still finish the race. The Drivers’ Championship looks more secure,” the Austrian continued.

“The Constructors' we have a solid gap but we still need to perform well and get our act together. There is still a long way to go.

“I do remember last year celebrating the Championship and I think we had the Constructors’ already.”

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