Ferrari struggles "not good for Formula 1" laments Wolff

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has conceded to feeling for all within Ferrari at the team's current woes he claims are "not good for Formula 1".

While Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas locked out the front row again in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, with the six-time F1 champion "in a league of his own" according to Wolff, Ferrari barely scraped out of Q1.

Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel, who locked out the front row themselves a year ago, will start 13th and 14th for this season's race at Spa-Francorchamps, with the latter 1.2secs adrift of Hamilton in Q2.

Asked whether he was surprised at Ferrari's struggles and whether he missed fighting with the Scuderia at the front, Wolff said: "Ferrari is an iconic brand and they should be racing at the very front

"It’s not good for Formula 1, it’s not good for the competition at the front and I very much feel for the Tifosi and employees at Ferrari for this lack of performance.

"At the end, one must question the priorities that have been set in recent times and where the lack of performance comes from.

"Overall, nobody from the fans and the Ferrari people deserves such a result."

When pressed on what he meant regarding 'priorities', Wolff replied: "It’s wrong to say Ferrari priorities because that drags Ferrari and everybody at Ferrari into this.

"It’s maybe the decisions that have been made within the team, within certain members of the team."

As for Hamilton, who finished half-a-second clear of Bottas, Wolff dismissed suggestions the Finn had been 'broken' by the Briton, but it was more a case of the 35-year-old's all-round performance.

"I don’t think there is any psychological reason for the gap," said Wolff. "I think overall Valtteri struggled with the set-up, particularly in Q3.

"You can see it on the data, just a bit more sliding exiting the corners and that obviously adds up. That makes a difference.

"But I don’t want to downplay or diminish anything from Lewis’ performance which was extra-terrestrial again. On these fast traditional circuits, he’s just in a league of his own."

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