“We need to manage our expectations,” Toto Wolff reveals W14’s flaws, admits Mercedes are cynical about new upgrades
Toto Wolff has given his comments on whether a Mercedes will improve their performance in the next few races.
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Mercedes’ performance last season was quite upsetting for the fans who have been used to seeing the Stuttgart outfit at the top of the Constructors’ Championship for 8 consecutive years. Even this year, the Silver Arrows have failed to impress with only one podium victory till now, thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s performance at the Australian GP. In fact, Mercedes‘ customer team Aston Martin Racing have also surpassed them in the rankings, with their star racer Fernando Alonso scoring four top-3 finishes in five races. This has led to several criticisms from onlookers about the Mercedes W14 racecar that the Brackley team have produced this year.
At the start of the Formula 1 2023 season, Toto Wolff had promised that they have learnt from the mistakes that his team committed last year. He also said the Mercedes team at their Brackley headquarters have worked hard to make the best racecar for this season, but it turned out that Mercedes’ setup was still nowhere near Red Bull and Aston Martin Racing. Now, Toto Wolff wants to keep his expectations within limits as he said, “We need to manage our own expectations, because I have never in my 13 years in Formula One unlock half a second of performance, so I very much doubt that this is going to happen.”
Now, the Miami Grand Prix proved to be even more disappointing after Lewis Hamilton scored a P13 start at the Qualifying. Then, Toto Wolff defended the racer saying that the Mercedes car is like a “curse” and it is not the seven-time World Champion’s fault. And even though Mercedes have a host of upgrades lined up for their car at the upcoming Grands Prix, the Austrian does not have much hopes for a great improvement in Mercedes’ results this year.
No relief even after a good Sunday: Toto Wolff
Mercedes’ performance in the five Grands Prix that have taken place till now have been average at best. And Toto Wolff has very little hopes for the team to rise from the ashes at any of the upcoming races. Even if, by luck, they manage to have a decent weekend, it will not get his hopes high, said the main man of Mercedes. He commented, “We have a solid base but that solid base is not where we want to be. And we need to understand why we are lacking that speed for a lap. So there’s nothing to be relieved of by having a more decent Sunday.”
Since the leader himself is quite dejected with their performance, it seems that Mercedes’ inner environment at the Brackley HQ is not at all cheerful at the moment. Now, it remains to be seen if the Silver Arrows manage to cheer up at the Imola GP next weekend by taking over their rivals in Ferrari’s backyard.
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)