Toto Wolff spots key correlation issue after Mercedes US Grand Prix update package

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Mercedes had a weekend to forget in Austin after George Russell was forced to start from the pits and Lewis Hamilton crashed out three laps into the Grand Prix.

Hamilton was the first and only retirement of the race after he spun into the gravel trap at Turn 19, having qualified towards the rear of the pack due to a setup issue that made his car a ‘nightmare’ to drive.

Mercedes could have made changes to his car but decided to focus on the rebuild job for George Russell, who also crashed out in qualifying at the same place.

With Hamilton out, the team focused their strategy on getting Russell into the points from the pit lane, which paid off when he overtook Sergio Perez in the closing stages for sixth.

Mercedes brought a few upgrades to the Austin circuit in a bid to rectify some of their recent problems, although team principal Toto Wolff believes there might have been a key correlation issue that set them back when speaking to AMuS.

Toto Wolff explains aerodynamics correlation problem impacting W15

Mercedes submitted six updated components to their car presentation submission document, including changes to the floor, front wing, front suspension and engine cover.

Russell had to run the race without the upgraded floor due to damaging his on Saturday, while Hamilton’s was the only fully upgraded specification.

Wolff believes the team has yet to optimise their package and does not put their poor weekend down to the updates.

“It is rather the case that the aerodynamics is not yet in harmony with the mechanical platform,” said Wolff.

“Therefore, we will also continue with the upgrade. Anything else would not make sense, because otherwise we would leave too much lap time behind.”

George Russell insists Lewis Hamilton spin ‘nothing’ to do with upgrades

Hamilton blamed the spin on the updates made to his car and how much harder it made him to get into the optimal setup window.

Will Buxton was left baffled as to why Mercedes opted not to start Hamilton from the pit lane by changing his car setup under Parc Ferme.

Mercedes only had the luxury of one practice session due to it being a Sprint weekend, with both Russell and Hamilton suffering from spins at the highspeed Turn 4 section of the track.

Russell thinks it is “nothing to do” with the upgrades and expects Mercedes to bounce back in Mexico, where they are hopeful they can understand their issues.