Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff has been so tortured by his team's cars struggle for pace and performance this season that he has wanted 'to strangle' himself to end the agony.
The Austrian boss of the defending constructors' champions, who reeled off eight consecutive team titles between 2014 and last year, admitted his frustration after opening practice at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Friday.
Wolff was reacting after seeing George Russell wind up 10th and Lewis Hamilton 18th in the rain-hit session at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari where Ferrari's championship leader Charles Leclerc topped the times, five seconds faster than Russell. "The feedback we're getting from Lewis and George is that there's literally zero grip,"he told Sky Sports."This points to the tyres, but that is not the worst of it."
Despite the team's struggles to unlock the potential of their car, Mercedes believe they can fight back in the championship."I think when you're optimistic, and I'm rarely optimistic in my assessments, if we are able to unlock the potential in the car, I think we can fight for this championship," Wolff said.