Wolff: "The Racing Point's were strong through the session in all the sectors"

Toto Wolff has admitted it wasn't all plain sailing in FP1 as he spoke of a difficult first free practice for Mercedes. The adjustments made to the W11 did not work out well on Friday morning and therefore there is still plenty to improve ahead of qualifying and the race. This is also necessary because Max Verstappen and Racing Point look pretty strong according to Mercedes' team boss.

"We are first and second, but it was a very difficult session," Wolff told Sky Sports. Mercedes was experimenting a bit with different wing positions, but it didn't work out how it was planned. "It did not meet our own expectations."

Mercedes can go to work

For August it is relatively cold temperatures in Belgium. "It's simply too cold for us. We were not good in the hot and now we are good in the hot. Now it's cold, but joking aside. The car is normally stable from the start and the car wasn't there so we are experimenting a bit."

The main competitors for the Silver Arrows are Red Bull Racing and Racing Point this weekend. "The Racing Point's were strong through the session in all the sectors and Verstappen on his first run," said Wolff, who concluded by commenting briefly on the fact that the ban on qualifying mode has been postponed to Monza. "I think fundamentally why it was delayed is because all PU manufacturers need to long run. You can't go blind into a race that is why it was delayed to Monza."