Toto Wolff, the head of Mercedes, expressed cautious optimism about the team’s development since the season’s first two Grands Prix, saying he hopes for another strong points finish in Melbourne this weekend.
Toto Wolff, the head of Mercedes, expressed cautious optimism about the team’s development since the season’s first two races, saying he hopes for another strong points haul in Melbourne this weekend. Mercedes left Ferrari in the dust on the fast, power-friendly Jeddah circuit a fortnight ago, with George Russell coming in fourth and Lewis Hamilton coming in fifth. It was a noticeable increase from the season-opening race in Bahrain, where they didn’t pose much of a threat to the victorious Red Bull, Ferrari, or Aston Martin teams.
Wolff said their W14 car was getting better, despite the fact that they are still far behind the dominant Red Bull squad.
“The development we observed in Saudi Arabia was positive. We made the most of our available resources and won some important points,” he said late on Wednesday.More significantly, we kept discovering new information about the W14 and our development strategy. The entire group has been working incredibly hard to implement these lessons into performance.
The indications we are seeing at the plant are encouraging, he continued.
We must proceed cautiously and won’t get ahead of ourselves until we see performance translated into lap time on the course.
Before Red Bull won the constructors’ championship last year, Mercedes won eight straight championships. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is presently on the longest winless streak of his record-breaking career.
Wolff acknowledged that there was still “a significant gap” between Red Bull and Mercedes, adding, “and that is ultimately what we are interested in closing.”
Regarding Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix at the quick Albert Park circuit, he said, “As always, we will look to maximise the car we have, and score as many points as our potential currently allows.”
Although we are not where we want to be, we still intend to race hard and give it everything we have.
