Mercedes "hunting" to derail Red Bull winning momentum

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff described his team as the "hunters" in the championship battle with rivals Red Bull.

Mercedes has been the benchmark in F1 for the past seven years winning drivers' and constructors' championship doubles in each season since 2014.

But after seven races this year, Mercedes trails Red Bull by 37 points with Lewis Hamilton also second in the standings to Max Verstappen by 12 points.

In final practice for the Styrian Grand Prix, however, it was Hamilton that set the fastest time with his championship rival second fastest.

"I think [we are the] hunter definitely," said Wolff. "I think we were good in France but we got it wrong with how the race panned out. We could have been more active. In terms of race speed, we were good.

"It’s going to swing. It’s going to swing in both directions, I believe, depending on the circuit. France should have been more to our advantage, Austria less, but having said that, the championship is long.

"There are at least 15 races to go. It will be about who can make the least mistakes. Who can optimise the strategy and collect points? DNFs can play a role but certainly, at the moment, we’re hunting."

Mercedes "experimenting" after French GP disappointment

Mercedes lost a significant amount of time in the pit stops at Paul Ricard last weekend and has been "experimenting" at the factory to find answers to its problems.

The experiments continued at the Red Bull Ring to costly effect, with Valtteri Bottas hit by a three-place grid penalty for Sunday's race after the Finn spun in the pit lane when pulling away in second gear.

Wolff added: "They did lots of laps in the simulator and we’re still experimenting with the set-up.

"You can get it right and then you land on Friday and the car drives or you can get it wrong. Obviously, that gives an advantage of how fast your development curve or performance curve is over the weekend.

"So, they were part of it – but still, it’s learning in progress and that’s what any team should do, even if you’ve won the Championship seven times in a row."

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