Toto Wolff comments will be music to Lewis Hamilton’s ears ahead of Belgian GP

Lewis Hamilton will be delighted with Toto Wolff’s latest comments ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix as Mercedes look to bounce back from their muted showing at last weekend’s race in Hungary. The Brit started from pole but was forced to settle for a disappointing fourth-placed finish in Budapest, while George Russell did well to cross the line in sixth after starting from 18th on the grid.

Mercedes introduced a new front wing in Hungary but seemed to take a backwards step over the course of the weekend and will be desperate for things to improve at the next time of asking in Belgium. Hamilton was left particularly frustrated with his lack of pace at the Hungaroring but will be hoping to avoid a repeat at Spa-Francorchamps after Wolff revealed that further upgrades are on the way for the Belgian Grand Prix.

However, there are doubts over whether Mercedes will be able to show their true speed in comparison to their Constructors’ Championship rivals, with Wolff saying: “Spa-Francorchamps is a classic venue and a true challenge for both the cars and drivers, especially in the sprint format with such limited practice time on a long and challenging lap. We will be bringing updates this weekend as part of our ongoing development programme.

“We hope this will be another small step forward in improving the W14. As we have seen at many races this year though, it is hard to predict where we will be relative to our competitors. Wherever the true pace of our car is here, we want to maximise the outcome in this final race before the summer shutdown.”

Wolff also insisted that Mercedes had the second-quickest car on the grid in Hungary in spite of their lacklustre pace, adding: “Hungary was a weekend of highs and lows. Our pace was strong on Saturday and Sunday, but we didn’t maximise that across the weekend.

“Lewis produced a brilliant lap to take pole position. However, on Sunday, we were too conservative with some of our decisions and ultimately missed out on a podium. George, meanwhile, was compromised in qualifying but drove a strong race from P18 to take P6.

“We also encountered cooling limitations across both cars. We likely had the second-fastest car, but we must execute better if we are to deliver our full potential. Nevertheless, we scored good points with both drivers, and consolidated our P2 championship position. We will be aiming to turn those learnings into actions for this weekend.”

It remains to be seen how Mercedes will fare at the iconic Spa circuit over the next few days, although Hamilton will be counting on their new upgrades to give him a fighting chance of getting back on the podium. The 38-year-old has finished in the top three on four occasions this year and will be hoping to repeat the feat by competing with the likes of Red Bull, McLaren and Aston Martin in Belgium before F1 pauses for its summer break.

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