Toto Wolff admits that the newly introduced ban on engine modes compromised his team's efforts during Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, while drivers say ban will mean less overtaking.

While the ban didn't affect the German team in qualifying, the impact of the ban was felt next day, as Valtteri Bottas sought to recover following his 'disturbing' start, and Lewis Hamilton from his stop and go penalty.

"We always said that, when you create one power mode for the whole race means that you haven't got the extra spice to overtake," said Toto Wolff.

"You haven't got the extra modes that you may decide, or not, to deploy in the race to overtake, and that is valid for all the small teams as for the big teams.

"I think that the race is a consequence of that decision."

"It is difficult to overtake in Monza," he added, "because with this TD (technical directive) on engine modes, you can't just turn it up for the overtakes and you can't turn it up to defend.

"The drive is very good to recover to P7," he said of Hamilton's fight back. "But obviously it's a lost race for him and the team, and this sentiment prevails."

The Briton believes that the ban will lead to less overtaking.

"It's worse for racing in the sense that in the past you could move between modes and you had to manage the small amount of strong race engine mode, because you only have a certain quota," he said. "It was more fun to have to manage with that and manage the power and utilise it for overtaking. That's probably why you see less overtaking than perhaps in the past."

"It could be slightly part of the new regulations that everyone is just running constant mode in terms of trying to save and attack, so maybe there's less overtaking because of that," agreed teammate Bottas. "Even in Monza, the DRS effect is quite a bit smaller because the wing is smaller, and you have less drag.

"For me the core issue was trying to get close to the cars, enough to try and overtake and get like a massive tow. But it definitely felt pretty impossible to overtake any car that I was battling."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Hannes, 10/09/2020 22:49

"@stackvideo "So now that Mercedes didn't win the whinging starts." ???

Maybe I was watching a different race, but Mercedes' loss was wholly unrelated to engine power, they we're winning at a canter until the pit stop penalty. "

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2. Posted by Hannes, 10/09/2020 22:47

"@TestaRossa did you read the article? "...you can't just turn it up for the overtakes and you can't turn it up to defend"

So "wolfie" didn't forget to tell us anything, you commented without reading."

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3. Posted by Motorsport-fan, 09/09/2020 9:44

"It all boils down to fundamental issues with the cars (aero) which hopefully 2022 will solve, the problem should have been sorted instead of DRS being introduced."

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4. Posted by Max Noble, 09/09/2020 4:28

"Toto is confirming my concerns as voiced in the “Road to Relevance” article....

“Expect Mercedes to maintain its qualifying advantage. Expect DRS overtakes to reduce in marginal circumstances (due to no added party mode). Expect Max to have a bigger gap between him and Lewis, to the world champion's advantage. Expect the midfield to be a no-overtaking zone earlier in the race because no one can get an edge exploding from the apex of a slow corner.”

How the FIA fail to explore these as thought exercises and thus realise the real world impact of their changes once humans are involved is a continuing source of amusement... it is not a source of great racing..."

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5. Posted by stackvideo, 08/09/2020 23:52

"So now that Mercedes didn't win the whinging starts. "

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6. Posted by Great_white_shark, 08/09/2020 21:43

"@TestaRossa
Yes but the attacking car also had DRS and they both have a limited amount of laps they can use higher engine modes for which brings an element of strategy and unpredictability. You need a huge pace advantage to overtake cars on most tracks. Do you want an exciting first lap and then watching 20 cars snaking around the track for an hour? "

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7. Posted by *TestaRossa*, 08/09/2020 16:14

"Wolfie forgets to tell that you could also defend with that button ..."

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Engine mode ban compromised Mercedes at Monza

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