F1 News

Wolff explains why Mercedes are so much faster than Ferrari

12 May 2019 at 18:45

Toto Wolff has spoken about the reasoning behind Mercedes dominance over rivals Ferrari this season.

Lewis Hamilton led Valtteri Bottas home for a fifth one-two in a row in 2019, the first time in the history of F1 that any team has achieved it.

Wolff believes that Ferrari are focussing too much on straight line speed. He said in an interview with Sky Sports: "You need to be careful because Formula 1 is not down to one explanation, there is not one silver bullet of development that goes on the car that makes all the difference.

"These days when everything has become so much more transparent and digital than 10 years ago, I think it's more about the development direction, understanding the tyres and how the whole car interacts.

"We have added performance every single weekend and I think this is the main reason.

"They have just put in a new engine which was an upgrade, but going down fast in a straight line is not the only tool that you need, you also need to go around the corners fast.

"It sounds a little bit like a no-brainer, but here it unlocked the potential of our car in the last sector."