Wolff diagnoses Mercedes issue after underwhelming Miami Sprint

The Mercedes team principal, who saw his team’s strong run disrupted in convincing fashion by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, admitted that Mercedes appear slightly out of sync with their rivals when it comes to car upgrades. The Austrian motorsport chief explained that while his team had hoped to maintain their early-season advantage, things did not unfold as planned.

Despite that, Wolff stressed that Mercedes remain close to the front in terms of outright pace. He also warned that this season is shaping up to be a pure development battle, where even small gains could prove decisive.

“We know that we are a little out of sync with our upgrades compared to other teams. We were hoping we were going to be able to hold on to our advantage, and in terms of pure lap times, we were close to the pace at the front in the Sprint. But if you have a bad getaway, which wasn’t at all Kimi’s fault but was an issue on our side, it is going to be difficult to fight back. This season is going to be a pure development race and whoever brings a few tenths before their competitors will gain an advantage,” he said via a press release.

The Mercedes team endured a challenging outing during the Miami Grand Prix Sprint, with George Russell finishing highest of both drivers in fourth place. Teammate Kimi Antonelli had initially finished in fourth as well, however a late penalty for track limits meant he was demoted to sixth place, behind Max Verstappen.

With the Sprint now complete, the weekend continues with qualifying for the main race, while Sunday will host the Grand Prix itself. The race on Sunday, however, could be hampered by weather conditions, with the chances of rain currently at 80%.

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