Mercedes reveal how Toto Wolff anguish passes through team after bad weekends

Mercedes

Mercedes reveal how Wolff anguish passes through team after bad weekends

Mercedes has experienced two difficult weekends in Monaco and Azerbaijan

Ewan Gale

Sunday 13 June 2021 10:15

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Mercedes technology director Mike Elliott has described how the angst portrayed by Toto Wolff's animated reactions in the heat of battle transcends throughout the team.

The world championship-winning team has endured a difficult period after collecting just seven points from the Monaco and Azerbaijan Grand Prix to leave Red Bull 26 points clear at the top of F1's constructors' standings.

When Lewis Hamilton was seen skating down the escape road at turn one in Baku after flicking the 'brake magic' switch to shift the brake bias to the front of his W12, Wolff's anguish was captured on television, a feeling Elliott says is shared throughout the team.

“The sort of emotion you saw from Toto is what we all feel," said Elliott.

"We all go through that same emotional rollercoaster when we are following the race and we all sort of feel that really strong sense of emotion when things don’t go to plan.

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"You can see that at the race track when you watch the TV footage. You know, when something goes wrong at the track those guys really feel it.

"You can see it in their body language, you can see it in the look on their faces, we have the same thing in the factory.

Mercedes pain helps "push" both factories

Elliott, who will step up to become technical director when James Allison steps aside later this year, explained how the heartache experienced over a poor weekend helps to motivate the workforce both at Mercedes' base at Brackley and High Performance Powertrains in Brixworth.

"If you look at the aerodynamicists or the designers, if the chassis is not the quickest chassis that weekend those guys feel it and they push themselves," he added.

"It’s the same for our teammates at HPP. They also feel it if we have an issue with a PU or we’ve just, for whatever reason, lost out with the PU.

"I could go on and talk about all the parts of the team. The reality is it’s very similar for all of us, we really want to do the best for the team, for our fans and most importantly for each other."