Toto Wolff reveals Mercedes’ plan to induce pace by a chainsaw in Saudi Arabia

Toto Wolff reveals Mercedes’ plan to induce pace by a chainsaw in Saudi Arabia

Toto Wolff

Over the weekend in Bahrain, during the opening race of the 2022 season of F1, Mercedes looked out of pace and appeared to be the third-fastest car on the grid, after the Ferrari and Red Bull. And despite the team lacking the pace, Mercedes drivers managed to finish P3 and P4 after the retirement of both the Red Bull cars.

While one of the team’s drivers may have finished on the podium, the concerns are pressing high for the team going into the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia. This race made its debut in the F1 calendar last year and races on a street circuit in Jeddah.

Speaking of Mercedes’ W13‘s struggles of pace, team principal Toto Wolff, while speaking to Sky Sports F1, said, “It’s easier to shed drag off the car because you simply take a chainsaw and cut the rear wing to bits and so that is what we will be doing for Jeddah,” as quoted by the GP Fans.

FS Video

Toto Wolff’s identification of the problem in the new Mercedes

Toto Wolff at the Mercedes F1 W13 launch
Toto Wolff at the Mercedes F1 W13 launch

The team principal kept a close eye on the drivers’ progress over the testings and the opening weekend as well. One of the other reasons that the boss believes is behind the lack of pace is the new power unit, and the team may have a look at it again.

Adding on to the earlier statement, Toto Wolff said, “I think we were probably over-winged. We had too much drag, and that is just because we are lacking parts at the moment, and hopefully, we can remedy that. It is half or a little bit more maybe of the top speed advantage, but we need to really leave no stone unturned on the power unit side.”

It’ll be interesting to see how the team works with the budget cap in place for the second season. And if the team manages to find the pace early in the 2022 season, we may see a nail-biting three-way fight for the championship.

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