Mercedes chief Wolff blasts 'total underperformance' in Hungary qualifying flop

Wolff made clear his dissatisfaction after three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth and George Russell 17th, just two weeks after the team shone at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone where Hamilton claimed an emotional win.

Russell said his qualifying had ended in "disaster" after failing to progress from the first qualifying run after making an error when he was also under-fuelled to claim an improved faster lap.

Hamilton struggled in the second session and only scraped through in 10th in rising temperatures during a wet-and-dry period before winding up six-tenths off the pace set by Lando Norris who claimed pole for McLaren.

"It was a total underperformance literally from everybody here," said Wolff, talking to Sky Sports F1.

"Losing a car in Q1 is just not on. Driver-team combination – it should not happen. At the end, we just didn't have the pace. A very disappointing day."