Toto Wolff SLAMS Pirelli amid Lewis Hamilton's CONCERN for Mercedes during Canadian Grand Prix

Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton — Photo: © LAT Images

Canadian Grand Prix

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Wolff SLAMS Pirelli amid Hamilton's CONCERN for Mercedes during Canadian Grand Prix

Mercedes team principal unhappy as drivers aquaplane in wet conditions

Lauren Sneath

Sunday 18 June 2023 11:27 Updated: 13:15

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Toto Wolff has criticised the wet tyres used during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, saying the full wet tyre 'doesn’t do much' after drivers were forced to switch intermediates despite the rain.

Over a waterlogged weekend, drivers have struggled with aquaplaning and visibility issues.

  Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell also struggled with tyre temperature on the wet track, managing P4 and P5 in qualifying for the race - before a three-place grid penalty to for Nico Hulkenberg eventually saw them lock out the second row.

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Wolff felt that work needed to be done on the wet tyre in particular, so drivers can still achieve results in inclement weather.

He told Sky Germany’s Ralf Schumacher the 'heavy wet doesn’t do much', adding: “Everyone prefers to stay on intermediates, unless the aquaplaning becomes really, really bad.”

In response to a question from Schumacher as to whether tyre manufacturer Pirelli needs to made improvements to its offering, Wolff said: “Yes, I believe we need to work on that now, how we can do it because, as you said, the heavy wet should be the better tyre in terrible conditions. And right now, it's not.”

Hamilton: Conditions were very difficult

Before qualifying, Diego Mejia, for Fox Sports Premium MX, reported that ‘Mercedes is very worried with the current – and upcoming conditions’.

He said: “They struggled to get temperature on the [intermediate] tyres during FP3 and it seems that in any moment this can change from a drizzle to a storm and bring out the wet tyres.”

And after the session, Hamilton certainly felt tyres played a part in the team’s issues, saying: “It was really hard to keep the car on track and deliver when the time counts. It was very, very slippery, it was really difficult to generate temperature in the tyres.”