Mercedes DNA will promote Monaco repeats - Toto Wolff

Mercedes

Mercedes DNA will promote Monaco repeats - Wolff

Mercedes left the Principality with just seven points

Ewan Gale

Sunday 30 May 2021 08:00

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Toto Wolff has suggested Mercedes' shocking Monaco Grand Prix weekend may not be the only race this season where the team faces such issues due to its "engrained DNA".

Mercedes struggled to match the pace of Red Bull and even surprise contenders Ferrari from the start of the weekend, with Lewis Hamilton eventually finishing seventh and losing the championship lead.

Wolff pointed to the historic difficulties experienced by the team at the Singapore GP during the turbo-hybrid era as an indication the car may have an inherent problem, with Monaco potentially not alone as an outlier.

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"Monaco has never been a happy place for us," said Wolff. "We have had outliers, 2019 I believe, in terms of pace.

"But it is similar to the kind of events we have had in Singapore in the past. It is sort of engrained in our DNA where the car goes well or not and the answers are not always easy to find.

"There seems to be an inherent DNA in the car. In our case, we know where we need to optimise the car, how we need to get the tyres in a better window and you are building a car for 23 races, there will be outliers in both directions where you will underperform."

Hamilton likens Mercedes to "bus"

Part of the problem for Mercedes will be its long wheelbase, which makes the change of direction in slow-speed corners more difficult compared to Red Bull's shorter wheelbase.

Highlighting this fact, Hamilton said: "We have the longest car. A longer car is like a bus to turn through the corners so it’s not as nimble as the others on a small track like Monaco but it is great elsewhere."