Wolff: Mercedes has 'issues everywhere' as McLaren offers hope

Toto Wolff has detailed some of the issues Mercedes faces with the W14, believing the car is "very, very difficult" to drive.

Mercedes is currently second in the Constructors' standings but has scored only one podium in the last five races as it struggles to find solutions to reel Red Bull and Max Verstappen back in.

At the Dutch Grand Prix, the team started third and 13th with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, but a mistake with the weather radar meant it opted for the wrong strategy and did not pit for Intermediates.

As the track dried, the crossover to slicks came into play, something the team has struggled with since the start of last season due to not being able to generate tyre temperature, although Wolff believes the problems aren't just limited to those conditions.

Mercedes' McLaren hope

"We have issues everywhere," Wolff told media including RacingNews365.

"[In the] wet, the crossover [period] or in the dry, the car is just very, very difficult to drive.

"It is snappy, it is unpredictable, but if you can put it in a sweet spot [in terms of set-up], then the car is fast, and we saw that with George [Russell qualifying third].

"But we need to be realistic, we could have had [second on the grid] but we need to look at the gap to Max.

"It is something that we need to close. Seven-tenths is seven-tenths."

Wolff also touched upon Verstappen and Red Bull's dominance, with the World Champion claiming his ninth successive win and 11th of the season from 13 races.

The Austrian reiterated his desire for Mercedes to simply do a better job.

"Clear variability and unpredictability is what makes the sport exciting," he explained.

"You want to look at the telly on Sunday and hope for a fight [for the win], and that is just not the case at the moment.

"It is not happening because one team and one driver is just doing a much better job than anybody else.

"We need to acknowledge that it is up to us to find solutions that leapfrog us [forward] to a certain degree because seven-tenths is not something that you find from one race to another.

"We have seen it with McLaren - that one update basically changed their performance levels considerably, and the same with Aston Martin over the winter, so it is possible and up to us to get there."