Mercedes F1 Optimistic with Stable Platform Progress

Mercedes F1 is seeing positive developments with its 2024 car, as new parts at Imola improve performance. Team Principal Toto Wolff explains the steady gains and growing optimism.

Mercedes F1 continues to make progress and better understand its 2024 car. The W15 proved more manageable this weekend at Imola, thanks to new parts introduced in Emilia-Romagna. Team Principal Toto Wolff explains why results haven’t improved significantly, but optimism is growing.

“I think what we’re seeing on the car right now is that these incremental gains we’re making, rather than a miraculous evolution to achieve a better balance window and make the car more performant, are things that allow you to gain a tenth or a tenth and a half,” Wolff explains.

“But at the same time, other teams are making progress. We’re on a trajectory where we’re improving the car, and we can see it. It’s never like the stock price goes up like that, but it will continue as long as the direction is correct, and I feel more confident now.”

The very good news for Mercedes is the increased understanding of their car. It’s still impossible to combine performance at high and low speeds, but the team finally knows why, as Wolff confirms.

“Yes, I think we’ve never had such clear indications as in the last few races, where we’ve really seen that the car goes very fast at high speed or low speed, but never both at the same time, and that’s something we can now slowly address.”

“We know where we’re going.”

The Austrian is pleased to finally be able to confidently say that the W15 is a solid platform: “I don’t know how many times I’ve used the term stable platform, but I think a stable platform is a car where you know what direction to take in terms of development.”

“Where you think you can achieve the best performance, and that’s what has happened over the past few years, and there have been these false starts, absolutely. But I think there’s a fundamental thing we didn’t detect when we should have, which is why we’re more confident right now.”

“That said, nothing is guaranteed in this sport, we are where we are, it’s not enough, you can hear in my voice that I’m angry and that I just need to do a better job.”

Wolff confirms that the team finally has a clear direction: “The base of the car is more conventional, in the sense that we define where we want to have downforce and how we want to generate aerodynamic efficiency. We roughly know where we’re going and that’s the advantage over the past two years.”

“Two years ago, the way the Imola race went was dreadful. We could have done things differently and better, spotted things earlier and optimized the organization. We didn’t. We could have done things differently and better, spotted things earlier and optimized in the organization. We didn’t.”