Mercedes F1 representative, 3rd place "Norman's Land" is "unacceptable"[F1-Gate .com]

Toto Wolff, the team’s representative for the Mercedes F1, is a clear third-fastest team ahead of the midfield, but is dissatisfied with the fact that he is in “Norman’s Land”, where there is a big difference between Red Bull and Ferrari. There is.

Even on special circuits like Monaco, this season’s composition of Red Bull and Ferrari in their own classes hasn’t changed.

The top four cars finished well behind the rest of the field, led by Mercedes F1 George Russell, who continues to finish all of this year’s Grand Prix in the top five and above.

A week ago in Barcelona, the most competitive Mercedes F1 of the 2022 season so far, George Russell finished fifth on the Monte Carlo city course, but teammate Lewis Hamilton finished eighth. rice field.

“I think we are the third team,” said Toto Wolff, Mercedes F1 team representative.

“We are neither 2nd nor 4th. We have two very strong drivers, but the fact that the gaps are about the same is a big headache for all of us.”

“Optimistically it’s 0.5 seconds, pessimistically it’s over 0.8 seconds, and that’s clearly unacceptable to all of us at Mercedes.”

“I think we’re learning on every truck right now. Literally every kilometer we’re stacking is an important lesson on how we can honestly improve our cars.”

“But we need to get out of this current Norman’s Land.”

The breakthrough seemed to open at the F1 Spanish Grand Prix, but the bounce that was characteristic of the Mercedes F1 season reoccurred in Monaco.

There was a suggestion that Mercedes F1 could roll back the W13 design and make significant changes to improve fate, but Toto Wolff seems to be excluding it now.

“If you want to change the concept, you need to understand why the new concept is faster than the current one, and if we knew it, we would have done it,” Toto Wolff said. ..

“At this point, we still have a great deal of belief in structure and organization, trying to bring development and understanding to speed up the car.”

“We just need to keep sharpening, and we need to make a decision next year, and if it can’t be changed in the current car, whether it’s structural or aerodynamic, we need to make a decision. But we are not at that point yet. ”