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Wolff: 'Have halved the gap with Red Bull in terms of performance'

Wolff: 'Have halved the gap with Red Bull in terms of performance'

24-07-2021 17:45 Last update: 23:05
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GPblog.com

Thanks to Mercedes lagging behind Red Bull when it comes to performance this year, Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton had to do something they're not used to: do work in the simulator to narrow the gap.

This, combined with the new package Mercedes introduced at Silverstone, should make the car more competitive. Hamilton was not a fan of the simulator at first, but Toto Wolff explained to Formula1.com that the Brit has become more positive about it.

"Yes, the simulator hasn't been his most favourite tool in the past, but I think we've developed it to a level that's pretty good and made it the best in its class. He's starting to see the benefits of it now. This fight is so hard that you just have to take any marginal gains, and that's why we've progressed together to better understand the car even with the tools of the simulator."

Everything is being used to overtake Verstappen

Wolff also argued, that is the goal. The upgrades from the weekend at Silverstone are part of that. "The upgrades were not big, but if you keep adding them up it can make a difference," he said.

"I think we're still underperforming a little bit, there's no doubt about that. I think at race pace it would have been about the same." However, the Austrian claimed it has given performance a big boost.

"But we have halved the gap on Red Bull in terms of performance, and you just have to mobilise everything in your arsenal of weapons and that is what Lewis is doing as a driver and we as a team. There will be harder ones, there will be better ones, but scoring the number of points like in Silverstone is important."

In Hungary, Hamilton and Mercedes will be looking to narrow the gap in the World Championship to Verstappen for the second weekend in a row.