Belgian GP: Toto Wolff bemoans 'unacceptable' Mercedes qualifying

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has not pulled any punches when describing his team’s qualifying result at the Belgian Grand Prix.

The Silver Arrows of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will line up P4 and P5 today at Spa which, on paper, does not seem to sound too bad.

However, the details around that are that three drivers were quicker than them on the road – Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Esteban Ocon – and those three all have engine penalties to send them to the back of the grid.

Indeed, the Mercedes cars were well off of the ultimate pace of Verstappen, who was quickest on the day, and it remains to be seen what sort of race pace the W13 will have.

Wolff, though, was far from happy with the car’s performance on Saturday, with him telling the press at Spa:

“You can’t be on pole three weeks before, albeit for very different conditions, different track, and then be 1.8 seconds off the pace at the next one.

“So there’s something we totally don’t understand, or seem to get right.

“Clearly, Red Bull are here in a league of their own, as the next Ferrari is eight tenths off. But that’s no consolation.

“It’s for me the worst qualifying session I had in 10 years. And irrespective of what positions we will start in tomorrow, being on pole the previous weekend and three weeks later being nowhere, it’s just not acceptable for ourselves.”