Wolff: Mercedes still has the quickest car

While Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff remains downbeat after a difficult run of races, he still holds full faith the reigning Formula 1 world champions have the fastest car on the grid as it aims to strike back at the German Grand Prix.

Despite taking pole position and victory at the French Grand Prix, F1’s first-ever triple-header of races somewhat unravelled for Mercedes with its double mechanical DNF at the Austrian Grand Prix followed by the controversial clash between Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, with the Finn’s teammate Sebastian Vettel taking victory at the British Grand Prix.

Wolff accepts Mercedes has underachieved over the past three races ‘down to our own mistakes’, having criticised Ferrari’s tactics at Silverstone which sparked a showing of tension between the two manufacturers, but having taken pole position at each race across the triple-header the Mercedes boss is still confident his team has the fastest package.

“We didn't score as many points in the triple-header as we had hoped for. A lot of that was down to our own mistakes,” Wolff said. “There is a silver lining to this – while we didn't maximise on points, we did bring the quickest car to all three races.

“Hockenheim will mark the halfway point of the 2018 season. We've had a decent first half - on the one hand, we've left points on the table and had to do damage limitation more often than we would have wanted.

“We still scored a good amount of points, both drivers have shown strong performances and we have a fast car. So there are many reasons why we're looking forward to the second half of the 2018 season.”

With the return of the German GP after a one-year absence, Mercedes has a second home race following Silverstone and is eager to make amends after missing out on victory at the British race last time out.

“Going to Hockenheim always feels like coming home, it's only about a 90 minute drive from the Daimler headquarters in Stuttgart,” he said. “The track itself is quite interesting. It has a variety of corner speeds and will test every aspect of the car.

“We will fight hard to not only put on a good show for our friends and fans in Hockenheim, but also get the result that they will be hoping for.”

Mercedes sit second in the F1 world constructors’ championship 20 points behind Ferrari, while Hamilton trails Vettel in the drivers’ standings by eight points. Bottas is fifth in the drivers’ championship.