12/07/2017
NEWS STORY
If anyone is wondering why Lewis Hamilton seemed particularly down in Austria, according to Toto Wolff it's because the team has let him down in recent races.
While the clash with Sebastian Vettel in Baku was totally outside Mercedes control, the errant headrest wasn't, nor was the gearbox issue which left him heading to Austria with a five-place grid penalty.
Speaking ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix, a race Hamilton has won for the last three years, Wolff admitted to letting the Briton down in recent races; Baku and Spielberg representing the first successive events in which he has not been on the podium since March 2014.
"We come to Silverstone with a feeling of unfinished business and needing to put things right," he said, "even though we took the win in Austria.
"In both Baku and Spielberg, we left points on the table that were there for the taking because of car problems that had nothing to do with our drivers. We are determined to make sure that doesn't happen in Silverstone.
"The determination for Lewis to fight back with a strong performance this weekend needs no more explanation," admits the Austrian. "Things could have been a lot worse at the last two races, but his performance and pace deserved a lot better.
"He has handled the setbacks with the calmness and maturity we have come to expect from him. Lewis is doing the job in a pretty perfect way right now and if he keeps doing that, the results will follow.
"It's clear that as a team, we need to give the drivers the right platform to express their talents, and that means delivering on our own high standards of performance and reliability. We are absolutely capable of both and we need to turn that capability into points this weekend."