Toto Wolff says Mercedes are losing much of their Formula 1 pace to "outstanding Ferrari" in the "twisty bits" of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix track. Ferrari qualified on Pole Position for Sunday's through Charles Leclerc as Mercedes could only manage fifth and 11th with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell - who was knocked out in Q2. Wolff praised the W14 for being able to keep up with the pace-setting Ferrari, but explained how in the heart of the lap, the car was just not able to live with the SF-23.
Wolff identifies Mercedes problem
"It is confusing with the times, but we are struggling," Wolff explained after Friday's qualifying session to Sky Sports F1. "We are losing [time] in three corners - we are pretty matched with Leclerc and [Max] Verstappen in the first two corners, and then the middle sector, the twisty bits, the Ferraris are outstanding. "We have the car in a good window, it is just generally the car is not stable for the drivers and doesn't have enough load. "We haven't put any upgrades on the car that will come for Imola, so we need to make the best out of this package."
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