Mercedes yet to work out why Ferrari are quicker despite Germany and Hungary wins, admits Toto Wolff

Lewis Hamilton has pinched back-to-back victories from Ferrari to take a 24-point lead into the summer break, but Mercedes accept they have plenty of work left to do

So, 12 races into its 21-event calendar, the Formula One circus heads into its much-needed summer break and Mercedes are on top in both the drivers’ and constructors’ world championships thanks to two consecutive victories by Lewis Hamilton, in Germany and Hungary.

But far from resting on their laurels, the Silver Arrows have much to ponder. Not the least of which is the prodigious speed of the Ferraris, which could be said to have been unlucky in the last two events. And the fact that with the two power-dependent tracks of Spa-Francorchamps and Monza coming up next, the reds will be running their latest Spec 3 engines which are said to boast another 40bhp.

Title contender Sebastian Vettel, who says he just plans to do “boring” things at home in the break, said after finishing second to arch-rival Hamilton on Sunday: “As we’ve seen this year the pendulum seems to swing once this side, once that side. Obviously, if it’s like this, consistency is the key. Scoring points. I didn't do myself a favour last week [when he crashed out while leading in Germany] but I think it’s part of racing. Stuff happens.

“Compared to last year, we lost the championship I think because our car wasn’t quick enough to be a match in the final part of the season, despite what happened with the non-finishes. So I think this year has shown so far that our car is more efficient, our car is stronger and still has a lot of potential to unleash. So I’m quite confident with what’s sitting in the pipeline that we can improve. So, we’ll see. Should be an exciting second part of the year.”

Mercedes’ boss Toto Wolff, meanwhile, suggested it was “nice” to be the challenger, after four years of having crosshairs on your back, and tongue-in-cheek that he would rather go down in flames than not match Ferrari’s performance.

Of course, the last thing he wants is to push his engines so that they break.

“Now we know where the level of performance is on the Ferrari, we’re seeing it on track and that is something we are very eager and very motivated to achieve,” he added. “We’re not going to rest until we’ve done that.

Wolff admitted Mercedes have not worked out where Ferrari are finding their speed (Reuters)

“Andy Cowell [Mercedes’ engine guru] and his troops, including the chassis integration team around John Owen, will leave no stone unturned in order to match that. We’ll see what can be achieved and what needs to be achieved. We are in an interesting phase on the third engine [teams are allowed three per car over the season] and we’re trying to extrapolate how much performance gain we can find until Spa or Monza. Only once we know that number will we be able to decide if we need to postpone or do something else.”

Wolff admitted that the technology involved is very complex.

“It’s not straightforward at all. Because of the maturity of the regulations, it’s very difficult to extract additional performance without harming the reliability. Every experiment you do that potentially adds performance needs to be validated against reliability. A non-finish is going to kill you in the championship much more than the last tenths of performance. It’s very complex to extract more performance, it’s a challenging target.”

He also admits that Mercedes have not yet figured out what Ferrari have been doing.

Mercedes were able to keep Ferrari at bay despite their pace gulf (Reuters)

“We just see that there is much more performance over the last few races. It has been increasing and increasing and increasing. We just need to push hard on the chassis side and engine side, and find that extra performance. It’s not trivial, it’s very complex, but it’s there.”

Hamilton, meanwhile, who has a 24-pont lead over Vettel after his last two weekends’ work, said on Sunday evening: “I really could only have dreamed that we would be in the position that we are in right now, considering all factors and based on our pure performance, where we stand compared to the Ferraris. So I’m really happy, going into the break, particularly with back-to-back wins.

“I think that boost will last a long time for our team and it’s encouraging for everyone, so I’m excited for the break. I think everyone has worked so hard; even for you guys, travelling around the world, it’s tough, so it’s probably going to be good to be able to spend time with family and friends.

Hamilton takes a 24-point lead over Vettel into the summer break (Getty)

“Obviously my life’s a little bit different, I don’t have a wife and kids, so I’m still in a fun period! But I am an uncle so I will spend some time with my mum, my sister and kids, which is always great. Then my best friend’s got a stag so that’s going to be interesting, and my cousin’s getting married, so there’ll be some partying. I’m sure there will be some relaxing, but most importantly I think it’s about re-energizing yourself. The way I do that is activities, so I will be trying to be active, training and just gathering a lot of energy.”

Battle recommences in Belgium on 24 August.