Wolff and Mercedes’ flashes of brilliance in 2024

The head of Mercedes, Toto Wolffclaims that the team cannot continue to live off ‘flashes’ on weekends Formula 1with him making it clear that the current level of performance is simply not good enough.

Although the German manufacturer was excited about the fact that Lewis Hamilton having come second in the sprint in China last weekend, she still faced a challenging main GP, falling behind again McLaren and from Ferrari.

But as there is no notable upward trend in performance despite efforts to better understand the W15, Wolff believes the company needs to improve performance rather than thinking that glimmers of hope are the reality of its situation. .

Speaking to ServusTV Regarding his reaction to the Chinese GP weekend, Wolff said: “I’m not satisfied at all. Maybe a small highlight with second place in the sprint race, but the performance is not there. We can keep telling ourselves that There were positives at the weekend, but we have to take a step forward.”

“We will take a little bit of everything to Miami, where, hopefully, we can expect something. But today we are behind the Ferraris and [Lando] Norris. It’s just not good enough.”

Mercedes started the year optimistic about the progress it had made with the W15 and its initial conclusion was that the platform was strong but had some weaknesses in high-speed corners. However, as events progressed, the team discovered more complications with the car, making it difficult to find the sweet spot for the setup.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-24, Zhou Guanyu, Kick Sauber C44

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

As Wolff admitted in China, the gains made from his high-speed characteristics were proven in Japan, but this progress was made at the expense of his pace in other corners.

“I think we absolutely achieved that, at high speed we were super competitive, also at Suzuka through the Issos, and it was night and day compared to what we had before,” said Wolff. “The drivers were talking about it as the best car they’ve had in the last two and a half years. So we really didn’t perform well at low speeds.”

“So you gain half a second at high speed but lose half a second at low speed. The equation is back to zero, so that’s something we need to improve on. We’re beyond the point of understanding and we just need to improve now. That’s what we need go and we have all the facts on the table.”

“We know what we set to solve for high speed, and we know where the car was before to be fast at low speed. Now we just need to put together the car that does both.”

Although Mercedes has failed to finish on the podium in a grand prix so far this season, Wolff doesn’t think this year’s car is any worse than its previous ground-effect machinery.

George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, wave to the audience during the driver presentation

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Instead, he thinks his team perhaps felt flattered before, when rivals like McLaren and Ferrari were having their own competitive difficulties.

“The advantage we had was that McLaren weren’t racing us in the first half of the season, so they weren’t a competitor,” he said. “Ferrari wasn’t as fast and dropped the ball on several occasions and that’s why we were a podium contender and were closer to Red Bull.”

“Now these teams have improved their performance levels. This is a relative game and suddenly what was good enough for third place last year is now [apenas] good enough for sixth. That’s why it’s difficult.”

“The car is as difficult as it was in the past, complicated for the drivers. George [Russell]when we talked about it [no sábado], said it was the most complicated qualifying car he has had so far. So overall, in some ways, the symptoms are the same.”