Wolff makes Mercedes vow as 'underdog' claim delivered

Toto Wolff has vowed that Mercedes will "100%" return to its pre-summer break form - but concedes the team is now F1 "underdogs".

Mercedes enjoyed a successful run of races before the summer shutdown, winning the Austrian, British and Belgian Grands Prix, and finishing third behind the McLarens in Hungary, with George Russell also scooping pole at Silverstone.

However, a floor upgrade at Spa did not deliver as much as was hoped and was removed from the W15, with a further package in the United States not yet providing conclusive results for the car, which can be affected by minor fluctuations in air and track temperature as well as ride height. 

Mercedes is set to finish fourth in the constructors', its lowest finish since fifth in 2012, as Wolff conceded that the team was back to being the best of the rest behind McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull.

"I think that this is a data-driven sport and there will be lots of digging why we were fast in [practice], but not anymore in qualifying," Wolff told media including RacingNews365 after a puzzling Austin weekend.

"What were the circumstances of that, what does the data say. We collected lots of data, so that is why it is not concerning for me, it is just where we are.

"We are back to underdog status, we are not back to the pre-summer situation. It is not about coming into a weekend thinking we're going to win it, but more going into the weekend thinking we are the fourth team on the road and how we are going to turn it around to be second or third.

"I am 100% sure that we will have, like we had before the summer break, a stable platform and we are going to come to these conclusions."