Ferrari, Red Bull have caught Mercedes due to lack of development - Wolff

Toto Wolff believes Mercedes' lack of car development through the year has allowed Ferrari and Red Bull to close the gap, with the Scuderia on a run of three straight races.

Following wins in Belgium, Italy and Singapore, Ferrari again look the team to beat in Russia this weekend, with Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen trading the top spots in the timesheets and the Red Bull man facing a grid penalty come Sunday.

Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton struggled by comparison and the Silver Arrows were third-fastest in both of Friday's sessions, prompting doom and gloom from their team principal.

"A negative day," Wolff summed up with Sky Sports. "To put it bluntly, we are just off the pace. We're struggling to find the right clues.

"I think we haven't really improved. Obviously we didn't really put a lot of effort into developing the car. That might be a reason also, but it seems the others have disproportionately gained and we have lost."

Wolff said that Ferrari's recent run of pole positions – Leclerc has taken Saturday honours in each of the last three events – was also a crucial factor as overtaking the red car is not easy.

"The last three races we were not able to qualify on pole any more," he added.

"In the race we were always catching up and being in the red gearbox, but just not enough because we are lacking the straight line speed and not enough to make it up through the corners."

Bottas was quicker than Hamilton in each of Friday's practice sessions and Wolff tipped the Finn for a big weekend, where he will look for a first race win since Azerbaijan at a track he took pole at 12 months ago.

"This is really Valtteri's track. The mirror like surface is something he likes, he's always been very strong here.

"I think this is one of his best tracks and if we manage to unlock the potential in the car at least for the race I think he has a chance to win."

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