Ferrari 'illness' bad for F1 - Wolff

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says Ferrari's "illness" is bad for Formula 1 after Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel ran into mechanical trouble in German Grand Prix qualifying.

Vettel will start from the back of the grid at Hockenheim, having failed to set a time, while Charles Leclerc dropped out before putting a lap in during Q3, and will start 10th having previously looked favourite for pole position.

Driver errors, strategy blunders and questionable management has seen Ferrari go from Mercedes' fierce title rivals to battling Red Bull for a distant second-best over the past 12 months – a run sparked by Vettel's slide into the gravel at last year's German GP.

Although the Scuderia's latest issues opened the door for Lewis Hamilton to take pole position in Germany, Wolff says the issue is not something he enjoys seeing.

Wolff told Sky Sports: "It's a shame for Ferrari, shame for Sebastian at his home grand prix.

"We really need him here for the crowd and you can see it's a bit subdued at the moment.

"Ferrari, they really have an illness in there that they need to cure. It's a shame because we need them for a strong championship.

"But for us, I'm happy because the session started really awfully. We didn't understand why we were lacking pace and then slowly it came towards us."

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