Toto Wolff says the heavily upgraded Mercedes W14 “doesn’t do anything we don’t like” after its debut at the Monaco Grand Prix Formula 1 practice session.
The refreshed car, which was due to debut for the first time at the canceled Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, features wholesale changes, including bodywork and suspension.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell had mixed practice days in Monaco with Hamilton extracting more pace from the evolving car.
The seven-time world champion finished on P6 in the second practice while Russell struggled on P12.
The Mercedes team boss gave an initial positive verdict on the update and suggested there were no major areas of concern.
“At least the upgraded car is not much worse than the car before. This is a good sign for Monaco. It’s the first time the car hasn’t done anything we don’t like,” said Wolff Heaven Germany.
Regarding the pace difference between the two Mercedes drivers, Wolff explained that Russell needed more time to find the perfect setup.
“George needed a few laps to get going,” added Wolff.
“The important thing is that he is improving and in qualifying he is fully committed, I’m not worried about that.”
“We also tried two settings in FP2, now we’ve found something that George likes.”
Commenting on the proximity to the field ahead of qualifying, Wolff said: “In the end, everything will be within two, three-tenths.”
