Formula 1 United States GP
Mercedes modifies F1 cars to avoid “massacre” on Austin’s bumps
Toto Wolff admits that the Mercedes Formula 1 team risked not finishing the US GP had it not taken measure to deal with the Austin circuit’s bumps.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Oct 24, 2021, 5:48 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Wolff said that the team was obliged to take steps not to “massacre” its cars after they bottomed on the tracks bumps during practice.
A similar situation arose at rivals Red Bull Racing, where a cracked wing was spotted on Max Verstappen’s car.
With the permission of the FIA, the Milton Keynes outfit was able to strengthen parts on both of its cars ahead of Saturday’s qualifying session.
“So what we did is that the car was bottoming out quite heavy, and that breaks the car,” said Wolff. “So we took some mitigating steps to not break it, or massacre it that hard, in order to survive the race.
"Definitely a compromise for going faster on the track, but maybe a necessity to actually finish.”
In Saturday’s qualifying session Lewis Hamilton was beaten to pole by Verstappen, while his teammate Valtteri Bottas was only fourth. The Finn carries a five-place penalty for a power unit change, and will start Sunday’s race from ninth.
Wolff conceded that Mercedes had lost out in comparison with its main rival. Although he hinted at compromises created by the changes to the cars, he insisted that the team hadn’t come to a conclusion as to why.
“Well, not yet. We have lost performance from Friday to qualifying, clearly, relative performance. We don't know yet where that is. And we haven't got the right explanations yet, but clearly, we haven't met our expectations."
Read Also:
- Horner expects "grandstand start" with Verstappen-Hamilton front row
- Mercedes denies Cowell absence behind F1 engine struggles
- Hamilton: Mercedes ‘fell back a little’ through practice, qualifying
However, he said that as on other occasions this year fortune could wing either way on race day.
"So if you look at the pure performance picture, both Red Bulls look very strong, and probably on paper, they are the cars that are ahead.
"But we've seen many Sundays that took a very different direction because of the start scenario, or DNFs. And that's why anything goes tomorrow.
“And even though I tend to always say well the qualifying result is the result at the race, thank God it's not the case, and there is ground we can still conquer tomorrow. And hopefully get Valtteri back to sharp end of the grid.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Mercedes denies Cowell absence behind F1 engine struggles
Next article Alpine changed Alonso's F1 engine in Austin for performance gain
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
Mercedes
Toto Wolff reflects on Mercedes’ non-title years: ‘We weren’t complete losers’
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
15 h
Toto Wolff reflects on Mercedes’ non-title years: ‘We weren’t complete losers’
Mercedes explains "unusual" car behaviour behind Kimi Antonelli's costly Interlagos spin
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
Mercedes explains "unusual" car behaviour behind Kimi Antonelli's costly Interlagos spin
Latest news
IndyCar 2026 season review: ECR
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 15 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: ECR
Toto Wolff reflects on Mercedes’ non-title years: ‘We weren’t complete losers’
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
15 h
Toto Wolff reflects on Mercedes’ non-title years: ‘We weren’t complete losers’
Renger van der Zande moves to IMSA’s LMP2 class full-time with Tower Motorsports
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 16 h
Renger van der Zande moves to IMSA’s LMP2 class full-time with Tower Motorsports
Nick Sanchez will compete for 2027 NASCAR Truck title with McAnally-Hilgemann
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
16 h
Nick Sanchez will compete for 2027 NASCAR Truck title with McAnally-Hilgemann
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe