Although George Russell exceeded expectations in qualifying at Monza with fourth place on the grid, less than four tenths off pole, it has come despite some obvious car limitations.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes nothing shows that more than the speed trap figures from Saturday, where the Silver Arrows squad ended up at the bottom of the rankings.
Analysis of the top speeds through qualifying on Saturday showed Russell (338.6km/h) and Lewis Hamilton (340.6km/h) were slowest overall through the official speed trap that is situated 212 metres before the first chicane.
Their pace is well adrift of pole man Carlos Sainz (350.8km/h), with the fastest man through the speed trap being Kevin Magnussen (351.9km/h). Red Bull’s Max Verstappen ended up being registered at 344km/h.
Reflecting on that data, which was backed by the Mercedes duo being slowest through the speed trap on the approach to the Ascari Chicane, Wolff explained that the deficit had nothing to do with downforce choices the team had made.
Instead, it pointed to a season-long problem that the German manufacturer has faced with its car not having good enough aero-efficiency.
“I think we are just too draggy,” he explained. “The car is too draggy for this kind of high-speed race track.
“When you look at the top speeds, and I've just looked at the [speed trap] sheet, we are bottom end pretty much everywhere.
Source: Autosport