Toto Wolff grudgingly accepts Ferrari was ‘quicker’ than Mercedes in Monza
Toto Wolff has talked about Ferrari's upturn in form at the Monza Formula 1 circuit.
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Toto Wolff and Frederic Vasseur (Via IMAGO)
The Ferrari F1 team was the outfit that gave it full beans during the Italian Grand Prix weekend. While the Maranello-based team was not able to keep Max Verstappen and Co. behind for a long time during the main race, they managed a brilliant P3 and P4 finish; this is something that has come as a bit of a shocker to the Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were at their level best during the whole Monza weekend and gave it their all to manage a podium with at least one car. However, while Ferrari had a solid outing, Mercedes was left to settle with only a P5 and P6 finish, Toto Wolff feels a bit baffled by the significant step of the Fred Vasseur-led team.
While showcasing his surprise toward the Italian GP outcome, Wolff said, as reported by racingnnews365, “I think we’ve seen a very strong long run from Ferrari on Friday. That was surprising. And [during the race] they were just quicker.” The Austrian has accepted that the Mercedes cars were just not at the pace that the two SF-23s could show in Monza.
Moreover, has also indicated that he and his Mercedes crew were a bit surprised with the performance output that Ferrari was able to extract from its cars, considering the demands of the high-speed Autodromo Nazionale Monza Formula 1 circuit. The Italian team was quicker than Mercedes both over one lap and race-trim.
Toto Wolff and Co. have got work to do heading into the Singapore GP
While the Italian GP was all about damage limitation for the Mercedes F1 team, they have no choice but to make a significant step up for the upcoming race at the iconic Marina Bay Street circuit. The track is completely different than Monza and comes up with its own unique set of challenges.
Moreover, the W14 has proved to be quite unpredictable this year. If Mercedes wants to keep hold of the second place in the Constructors Championship, they have to deliver a strong result in Singapore and try to finish ahead of the lights of Ferrari and the Fernando Alonso-led Aston Martin F1 team.
Alonso and Co. had an outing to forget in Monza, but the AMR23 has the knack of coming up with a strong pace, especially around street circuits. This could haunt Mercedes as Aston Martin is a dark horse in the second-place fight in the 2023 Championship. Considering this, the Singapore GP holds a lot of significance for Mercedes.
In case you missed it:
- Fernando Alonso deems Monza as one of “the most difficult races of the year” following a disappointing result
- Nico Hulkenberg SLAMS Haas F1’s ‘terribly bad’ car development for Monza
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Rishabh Negi
(3244 Articles Published)