A week ago, Mercedes was in a position to win a race. Lewis Hamilton could’ve won his 104th race in F1. Even though it wouldn’t have amounted to anything because of his eventual disqualification, Mercedes’ US GP outing pointed to positive signs. The team introduced a new floor concept, a development direction focused on 2024. Considering how dialed in Hamilton’s W14 looked in Austin, it seemed to be paying dividends. But come the Mexican GP, it looks like the Brackley team isn’t where it was in Austin, and Toto Wolff isn’t happy about it.

After Hamilton’s almost win in COTA, Wolff said, “I feel positive as we’re moving forward, even if reflecting on it, we could have possibly won today.” He highlighted the progress Mercedes has made in the past few races, only to have to bite his words in Mexico.

Toto Wolff doesn’t know what’s going wrong

One weekend, the Mercedes boys are fighting each other. In the next, they crash on Lap 1. Last weekend, at the US GP, Hamilton seemed to be having the time of his life, challenging for the win. He was even excited with the progress Mercedes has made, saying, “We’re getting closer.” George Russell, on the other hand, was nowhere close to his teammate. Despite the Mexican GP being a normal weekend—as opposed to the Sprint format Mercedes doesn’t like—Wolff & Co. are still in knots, wondering where they’re going wrong.

As per data gathered on Friday, Mercedes is the second-fastest car this weekend. But from what Toto Wolff said after FP3, he isn’t too confident about what’s to come this weekend. In an interview with Sky Germany, he said, “I don’t know, every weekend we have a problem with one of the two. At the moment it varies from weekend to weekend. I think it’s very track-specific.” Last weekend, Russell couldn’t get a handle on his W14. This weekend, it might be Hamilton who’s suffering.

“I think we just have to get everything to the point because if you’re a tenth away, it can mean that you’re seventh or eighth or you’re first or second,” Wolff added. With the top 10 bunched up within just half a second after Friday’s running, a few tenths can make a huge difference. And that’s precisely what Wolff is afraid of. At a track where overtaking is difficult and qualifying is crucial, Mercedes needs to sort out its issues. Otherwise, it’ll be stuck in No Man’s Land once again this weekend.

Read More: Toto Wolff’s Confident Claims Fizzle Out as “Embarrassing” Record Draws Ridicule from Fans

Christian Horner called out Wolff & Co. for its Austin blunders

“Yes. I do think we would’ve been in a fighting position to fight with Max.” This is the last thing any team would want to hear after a race—that it gave up the chance for a win. Unfortunately, that’s what happened with Mercedes, and it all came down to its strategy. Going into the race, Mercedes didn’t really think it had the pace to fight Red Bull. It went in with the mindset that Hamilton would be on a one-stop strategy to try and finish second-best. 

After realizing that Hamilton had the pace to fight Max Verstappen, Mercedes still believed it could do a one-stop. But things didn’t go according to plan, and although Hamilton was ahead of Verstappen before the first pit stops, he came out way behind after the second rounds. If Mercedes had just covered Verstappen’s stops, Hamilton would’ve won. Christian Horner pointed out the fact, saying, “I think Mercedes found themselves in no man’s land on a tactical level. They tried to follow the one-stop strategy and then aborted it. They used the best tire in the final stint, but we had enough of an advantage to keep Hamilton at bay.”

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Do you think Toto Wolff & Co. could make amends at the Mexican GP?