Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff set off for Formula One's European summer break determined to see his outfit solve the start-line problems that threaten to undermine their domination of the Formula One world championship.
After seeing championship leader Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Nico Rosberg beaten off the grid for the second race in succession in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the Austrian principle knows they are under pressure.
"We got jumped by two Williams last time and jumped by the two Ferraris this time," he said, referring to the British Grand Prix and Sunday's contest at the Hungaroring won by four-time champion Sebastian Vettel for Ferrari.
“This is what triggered the whole mess for our race and then the Lap 1 incident came ... We need to get on top of the situation. It is not acceptable and it needs to be analysed why it happened. It is many various reasons, it is not one particular one. If you look at it, not good.”
Vettel and his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen surged past both Hamilton and Rosberg at the start of Sunday’s 69-laps race, the German to claim an emotional triumph he dedicated to colleague Jules Bianchi, who died on July 17.
Raikkonen followed him in second place for much of the race before power unit problems forced him into retirement, gifting second and third places to the revived Red Bull Racing duo of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo after both Rosberg and Hamilton had suffered more lost positions following collisions with the Australian driver.
Wolff conceded he is concerned at the team’s issues with starts, especially because the rules are due to change at the next race, the Belgian Grand Prix, on August 23, reducing the level of technical assistance they can receive.
“I am very concerned about this,” said Wolff. “It is various issues. And it is very difficult to get the calibration right. We had two very good practice starts off the line and then, when it mattered, on the actual race start, we had too much wheel spin.
“Then, when that happens, you get overtaken in a way you cannot recover from ...”
Hamilton and Mercedes had dominated every practice session on Friday and Saturday and he qualified in pole position with such ease that he appeared to be a certain winner – if he made a good start.
But in what is becoming a worryingly bad habit, he was passed at the start and left with a recovery mission that, on Sunday, turned into a series of mishaps, errors, accidents and penalties.
Hamilton apologised for his driving, saying it was “a bad day at the office” and entirely his fault, while Rosberg threw away a podium finish when he suffered a puncture in a collision with Ricciardo in the closing laps, finishing eighth.
Vettel’s win lifted him to within 21 points of second-placed Rosberg in the drivers’ championship on 160 points, rekindling Ferrari’s spirits with a second victory of the year.
He is the only man to have broken the Mercedes stranglehold which was so weakened on Sunday that they did not have a driver on the podium for the first time this year.
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What should do investors do now?
What does the S&P 500's new all-time high mean for the average investor?
Should I be euphoric?
No. It's fine to be pleased about hearty returns on your investments. But it's not a good idea to tie your emotions closely to the ups and downs of the stock market. You'll get tired fast. This market moment comes on the heels of last year's nosedive. And it's not the first or last time the stock market will make a dramatic move.
So what happened?
It's more about what happened last year. Many of the concerns that triggered that plunge towards the end of last have largely been quelled. The US and China are slowly moving toward a trade agreement. The Federal Reserve has indicated it likely will not raise rates at all in 2019 after seven recent increases. And those changes, along with some strong earnings reports and broader healthy economic indicators, have fueled some optimism in stock markets.
"The panic in the fourth quarter was based mostly on fears," says Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. "The fundamentals have mostly held up, while the fears have gone away and the fears were based mostly on emotion."
Should I buy? Should I sell?
Maybe. It depends on what your long-term investment plan is. The best advice is usually the same no matter the day — determine your financial goals, make a plan to reach them and stick to it.
"I would encourage (investors) not to overreact to highs, just as I would encourage them not to overreact to the lows of December," Mr Schutte says.
All the same, there are some situations in which you should consider taking action. If you think you can't live through another low like last year, the time to get out is now. If the balance of assets in your portfolio is out of whack thanks to the rise of the stock market, make adjustments. And if you need your money in the next five to 10 years, it shouldn't be in stocks anyhow. But for most people, it's also a good time to just leave things be.
Resist the urge to abandon the diversification of your portfolio, Mr Schutte cautions. It may be tempting to shed other investments that aren't performing as well, such as some international stocks, but diversification is designed to help steady your performance over time.
Will the rally last?
No one knows for sure. But David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank, expects the US market could move up 5 per cent to 7 per cent more over the next nine to 12 months, provided the Fed doesn't raise rates and earnings growth exceeds current expectations. We are in a late cycle market, a period when US equities have historically done very well, but volatility also rises, he says.
"This phase can last six months to several years, but it's important clients remain invested and not try to prematurely position for a contraction of the market," Mr Bailin says. "Doing so would risk missing out on important portfolio returns."
