Lewis Hamilton lamented a big points loss to title rival Max Verstappen at the Austrian GP, where a damaged car ruined his chances of a podium finish.
Hamilton started in fourth place but managed to finish second in the opening 20 laps. In the second stint he reported damage to his car - believed to have been caused by hitting the curb at Turn 10 - and quickly overtook Valtteri Bottas and Lando Norris.
Making matters worse for Hamilton was that Verstappen claimed a comfortable victory to extend his championship to 13 points – he leads Hamilton to 32, more than one race worth winning.
"I said before the race that it would be very hard to beat Max, of course," Hamilton said.
"But obviously losing so much force on the rear of the car and not being able to stay in second place is disappointing. So a lot of points were lost today.
"I would have been second. I was second when suddenly it clearly broke. It would have been an easy second, usually. But clearly wasn't able to hold those forward."
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said: "The damage happened on top of the curb, outside of Turn 10. I don't think he was running particularly hard on the curb, it was just a part that fell off and we look at the look and feel. He was in the first lap.
"So we need to look at why this happened."
Mercedes would like to end the race with five wins in a straight run for Red Bull at the British Grand Prix. Mercedes has won that event on eight of the last nine occasions.