Toto Wolff calls Mercedes a s***box at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Toto Wolff labelled the Mercedes a s***box at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as the car gave both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell a very bumpy ride in Baku.

The Mercedes has struggled with porpoising considerably this season and it appeared to be at another level in Azerbaijan, as the long start/finish straight saw several cars bumping up and down on the tarmac.

Indeed, Mercedes drivers Hamilton and Russell had to deal with it throughout the weekend, with the 7-time world champion in particular seemingly suffering, as he moved gingerly away from the car after the race, holding his back.

Hamilton had already been saying that he was in pain on Saturday following practice and qualifying, and so a further 51 laps around the Baku street circuit evidently took its toll on the Briton’s body.

He still took 4th place, however, with Ferrari suffering a double retirement and Russell finished 3rd and on the podium, but that did not stop Wolff from expressing his typically blunt views on the team radio after the chequered flag.

Speaking to Lewis, he said:

“Lewis, we all know this is a bit of a s***box to drive at the moment, I’m sorry for the back also we will sort things out.”

Hamilton, meanwhile, was a little more magnanimous, with him saying:

“Well done guys, great job on the strategy, thank you for continuing to push let’s definitely make some changes ok.”

What the changes that Mercedes can, or do, make are remains to be seen as it’s clear they’ve been working hard to solve the issue but little has worked.

In Spain we saw the car look better and the race pace appeared to be there, but Baku was a reminder that they still have work to do and with the porpoising still in play they simply cannot extract as much performance as they would