Cape Town – Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has called on the team to “stay calm” and “get their heads down” but said Valtteri Bottas’ race performance did offer encouragement.

The Silver Arrows have gone three races without a win, a streak which has not happened since 2014, but Wolff is not letting a poor start get himself or the rest of the team down.

“In Formula 1 there is never a quick fix,” Wolff said via the official Formula 1 website.

“But you can see how fast the picture can change in testing and in Melbourne, people predicted that we would run away with the championship because the car was so dominant.

“Here we go, three races in, and we are not in so far. This is in my opinion a great group of people.

“We just need to stick our heads together, stay calm, get the head down and come up with some solutions.

“There is a huge confidence in the team, they’ve proved that in the past.”

As for the latest race in China, Wolff said Valtteri Bottas was the only one to come away from the weekend with a good deal of credit.

“The whole weekend was not good for all of us. The only thing that I see positive was Valtteri’s race,” he added.

“That was awesome – no mistakes, unlucky with the Safety Car, and even with the Ricciardo overtake, if Valtteri hadn’t opened the door last minute, Ricciardo would have taken him out. So Valtteri’s the only one (of the team) who was without fault.

“We lacked pace. It’s just all around not the level that we all expect and hope.”