Wolff admits Mercedes neglect during years of F1 dominance

Toto Wolff has admitted that Mercedes did not pay much attention to pit-stops during its run of Formula 1 success - with the team now well behind rival squads.

Between 2014 and 2021, Mercedes often held such an advantage over the field that any strategy mistake or slow pit-stop could be wiped out by the performance of the car.

However, as the field has converged in the ground effects era, quick pit-stops are more vital than ever, although Mercedes is lagging well behind other teams.

Red Bull and McLaren have become the class-leaders, with the latter holding the world record after a 1.80s stop for Lando Norris in the Qatar Grand Prix, with Wolff conceding that Mercedes has fallen well behind.

"Our mindset for the last 12 years was that we don't need to be World Champions in pit-stops, we just need to avoid slow pit-stops," Wolff told media including RacingNews365.

"It is coming to a situation now where we realise because it has become so competitive, we just need to ramp our game out there.

"In terms of equipment and science around it, we will be making a step up to [be better] than three-and-a-half seconds."