Wolff: Mercedes feel like Red Bull, with Ferrari faster

Toto Wolff compared Mercedes' straight-line deficit against Ferrari to Red Bull's struggles for pace in the first years of the V6 Hybrid era.

Mercedes were unable to hold a candle to Charles Leclerc at the Belgian Grand Prix as the Monegasque secured victory from pole position, although Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas joined him on the podium.

It is expected to be more of the same at the 'Temple of Speed' Monza this week, although Mercedes and Hamilton were triumphant last year in similar circumstances.

Sebastian Vettel eventually fell away to fourth place, but had held off Hamilton at the start of the Belgium race, with a blast past on the Kemmel Straight, making it clear that Mercedes' long-held engine advantage is over.

Wolff said: "If you would have given me second and third in Spa, I would have taken it before the race, because we know that our package compared to the Ferraris, with the straight-line speed, is inferior.

"Look at Turn 1 and then the following straight, Sebastian can't be more off the line than he was, and he was still able to overtake us.

"I know a little bit now how Red Bull felt in '14 and '15, when you are on the back foot on the straights.

"But it is what it is, no complaints. We've just go to prepare the best possible for Monza, know that it is not a track which suits us, but will favour Ferrari, and we've got to do the best possible job.

"And on the Sunday we're looking much closer, even on the high-power circuits. So I do think we've got to give it all we have to hopefully win the race in Monza."

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