Mercedes’ odds of winning the title are ‘eight-to-two’ says Wolff

Toto Wolff says the odds of Mercedes winning this year’s Drivers’ title are “eight-to-two” but that this is racing and “anything can happen”.

Designing a zero-pod W13 as their interpretation of this year’s new technical regulations, Mercedes are struggling more than others with porpoising.

The extreme bouncing, a consequence of running ground effect aerodynamics to create downforce, means the team has had to raise the ride-height of the car. And that means a loss of downforce and pace.

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Rivals and pundits alike are convinced that once Mercedes resolve the porpoising problems, they’ll shoot to the front of the field.

But for now they are minimising the damage, and doing so rather effectively given that George Russell is P2 in the Drivers’ Championship and Mercedes are runner-up to Ferrari in the Constructors’.

They are, however, well off the pace of Ferrari with Russell 34 points down on Charles Leclerc and Mercedes 39 adrift of Ferrari.

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Wolff said as per GPFans: “I think we are on the backfoot.

“If we look at it from a mathematical standpoint and probability, I would probably say that the odds are eight-to-two but this is motor racing and anything can happen.

“Teams can DNF and if we unlock the