Toto Wolff reveals the biggest flaw with Mercedes’ W14
Toto Wolff and Co. need to sort out its house fast to keep hold of second place in the 2023 Constructors Championship.
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Toto Wolff (Credits: WWOS) and Mercedes (Sky Sports)
The Toto Wolff-led Mercedes F1 team has been on a baffling run during the 2023 F1 season. At some tracks, they have got the weaponry to become a nuisance for the mighty Red Bull team whereas at some of the other tracks their car has proved to be downright average at best.
Mercedes was a top team for several years during the turbo-hybrid era, but since the dawn of the new regulations that kicked in ahead of 2022, the German outfit just hasn’t been able to get to grips with it. Last year was a struggle for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, and the ongoing campaign is proving to be a tough nut to crack.
Toto Wolff is aware of what the biggest issue is on the W14 this year, and while shedding light on the same, he added, “The biggest weakness in the [W14] car is not the lack of downforce. It’s that the car is unpredictable. The drivers never have the confidence to really push it in qualifying. What we need to work on is just giving them a better car balance.”
Looking at the comments of the Mercedes boss, it is pretty clear that the outfit needs to pay a lot of attention to improving the balance of the car from track to track. He believes that it is one of the main reasons why Mercedes drivers cannot put the W14 through the writer on many occasions.
Toto Wolff’s team is in a battle for P2 in the Constructors Championship
While Toto Wolff has admitted that the W14 is a highly unpredictable machinery, he cannot afford to lose sight of the fact that Mercedes is in an intense battle with the lights of Ferrari, Aston Martin, and even McLaren for the second position in the Constructors Championship. Currently, the German giants are second but are not too far ahead of the teams behind them.
The ongoing campaign is just approaching its halfway mark, and there are still several races remaining on this year’s F1 calendar. McLaren has shown tremendous form in recent races, and they could have a major say in the second-place fight by the closing stages of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
Taking into account everything that has been discussed above, the Toto Wolff-led team would want to close out the first leg of the ongoing campaign on a positive note. The upcoming race at the Spa F1 circuit holds great significance for Mercedes in their pursuit of keeping a strong hold over the second place in the Championship.
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Rishabh Negi
(3244 Articles Published)