Toto Wolff admits that Mercedes are still struggling with porpoising following a difficult qualifying session at the Miami Grand Prix, with the team boss comparing their car to a "kangaroo". Lewis Hamilton initially looked to be at risk of being eliminated in Q1, but was able to stay in and eventually ended the hour in P6. George Russell, meanwhile, was knocked out in Q2 after struggling with his W13, and it appeared that the Briton's car was bouncing particularly badly. This comes despite the team seeming to have some stronger running in Friday's practice sessions.
Wolff: Mercedes "completely off" with experiments on car
When asked whether the car was starting to handle better following qualifying, Wolff told Sky Sports F1 : "No, not at all. "I think we've seen a performance [from the] car [on Friday] in FP2 that was real. We were able to put it in a sweet spot, and today in FP3 we were completely off with the experiments we did. "[The] grip [is] a little bit back, but the car is still bouncing like a kangaroo. The drivers are not happy with it, and you can see that's the reason we [are] off."
How Mercedes' slump will help the team
Despite their struggles on Saturday at the Miami International Autodrome, Wolff believes it is a positive that the team have now learned a little more about which upgrades are effective and which are not. "[We] definitely got a better handle [on it]," he explained. "Also the slump that we had today from yesterday helped." Wolff then reiterated that there is not just one cause of Mercedes' issues, adding: "It's never one thing that is responsible for performance or non-performance. "But we had a good car [on Friday] afternoon. We worked with it a little bit. There's some things we understand, others not."
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