Toto Wolff says Mercedes are in a ‘dungeon’ after another frustrating weekend in Belgium

Lewis Hamilton retired after the first lap of the Belgian Grand Prix while George Russell could only finish fourth

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says his team have arrived in a “dungeon” this season after another weekend of disappointment in Belgium.

With hopes high that the Silver Arrows could land their first victory of the season at Spa-Francorchamps, having secured their first pole position in Hungary last month, the pace of both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell was nowhere compared to the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

Come race day, Hamilton’s streak of five podiums in a row came to an end as he retired during the first lap following a collision with Fernando Alonso while Russell could not reel in Carlos Sainz in third and had to settle for fourth.

Mercedes have won the Constructors’ Championship in the last eight years but currently lie third in the standings, a mammoth 159 points behind Red Bull, who are out in front with eight races to go.

Hamilton has already noted that focus needs to switch to next year’s car and while Wolff echoed those thoughts, the Mercedes team principal described how difficult 2022 has been for the team.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says ‘it is very difficult to cope with these swings’ (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

“They say you never lose you learn, I can tell you it is f****** difficult,” Wolff said.

“All these nice Instagram posts and everything we have talked about over the eight years, about how we are going to take this when you arrive in the dungeon.

“To stick to your principles and your values, to keep the spirit up and continue to relentlessly seek to get better? Phew. There is more to write a book about this year than there is about the last eight years.

“It’s very difficult to cope with these swings. We had a totally sub-par performance in qualifying, then in the race sometimes we go three seconds a lap faster. There are big question marks about what is going on.

“It’s not where we should be with the structure and knowledge to understand a racing car but we don’t with this one.”

Mercedes need to find a short-term fix quickly in the midst of a triple-header, with Formula One moving on to Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix this week.