"Beaten" Mercedes must learn from worst qualifying in seven years

Mercedes

"Beaten" Mercedes must learn from worst qualifying in seven years – Wolff

Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas struggled on slippery Turkey track

Will Gray

Sunday 15 November 2020 05:00

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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes his seven-time title-winning team must “learn from being beaten” following a Turkish Grand Prix qualifying performance that resulted in both cars finishing outside the top five for the first time in seven years.

Prior to a chaotic session at Istanbul Park, Mercedes had started from pole in every race this season, but Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will line up sixth and ninth respectively after fighting for grip during a slippery wet qualifying on the newly resurfaced track.

It was the team’s worst outing over one lap since the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 2013 when Nico Rosberg was sixth and Hamilton 12th.

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“We have to learn from this," said Wolff. "I always say we learn the most on the days we are beaten and this will be such a day.

“The conditions were different in that it wasn’t only wet but it was a brand new circuit that was slippery, with cold ambient and track temperatures.

"It is not an excuse that I am searching for, why we have not performed. I believe that it was a very unusual set of circumstances coming together. You have to be prepared for that too and we weren't.

“I believe we just weren’t able to switch the tyres on. You can see that if you are just not in the right window you’re just sliding all over the place and the consequences are massive gaps between teams and cars.”

Hamilton is hoping to secure his record-equalling seventh world title this weekend, and to do so he needs to finish eight points ahead of Bottas or face a two-week wait until the next race in Bahrain.

The 93-race winner has recovered from far worse positions on the grid, however, and Wolff said the team is already working hard to maximise its pace and bounce back in the race.

“We have such a great group of people that are already on the case to see what we can do, have some damage limitations,” added Wolff. “I am sure if this happens again, we will be in a much better place in the future.

“It is a difficult weekend that has shown us there are still deficiencies and blanks that we need to fill and that is why I will remember this race as one we will learn and have learnt.”

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