Mercedes F1 commits to major upgrades at each Grand Prix, with Wolff vowing a win for Hamilton this season.
George Russell’s victory in Austria was indeed fortuitous… but it also rewards the clear progress in performance made by Mercedes F1, especially since the new front wing introduced in Monaco.
The W15 is no longer a ‘diva,’ and Mercedes F1 has clearly overtaken Ferrari to become the third force on the grid.
Third force, because the gap to Max Verstappen and Lando Norris remains significant: there was a 13-second difference between George Russell and Lando Norris at the time of the race-leading incident in Austria.
Toto Wolff, the team boss, is aware of this—but remains optimistic.
“In terms of pace, we were the third fastest car.”
“This was also the case over the last three weekends, and it’s very encouraging to see this upward trend and the consolidation of this trend.”
“But races happen on Sunday. We benefited from the incident at the front.”
“It’s good to have this victory in the bag this year. It means that four teams have won races this year, whereas in 2023, we didn’t win a race for the first time since 2011.”
“It’s good to know, and there’s definitely a great momentum now within the team—to be capable of fighting for victory on the basis of our true performances. And I think we’ll get there.”
And for this next victory, Toto Wolff would like it to be for Lewis Hamilton. Toto still feels indebted to Lewis, and one last victory would be a poignant way to conclude the journey.
Thus, Toto Wolff promises Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes F1 will bring the necessary upgrades to enable him to win a Grand Prix.
“He didn’t have a great time in Austria. As a racing driver, it can be unsettling to feel unable to perform at your best in a race. He needs to go through this. It’s not a situation where he suddenly lost his driving skills. He had a brilliant race in Barcelona, so we just need to dive into this situation.”
“Lewis has only half a season left in his career at Mercedes, but I make him a promise: we are going to win a race with him again this year.”
Upgrades at every Grand Prix for Mercedes F1!
Toto Wolff is investing heavily to keep his promise, announcing today that Mercedes F1 will introduce upgrades at every Grand Prix until the end of the year!
“I think we’re bringing upgrades to every Grand Prix. The factory is running at full capacity.”
“In 12 years, we’ve never been able to develop, design, manufacture, and bring quality parts to the track (at every Grand Prix).”
“I’ve never seen such a pace.”
“At every race, we’ll bring upgrades, and I hope that by the summer break, we can make one more step forward. Today, everyone else is working hard.”
“But if we can narrow the gap a bit… I think that gap (from the race leader) was 15 seconds over 70 laps in Austria, which is two-tenths [per lap]… and that’s okay. It’s a third place and I hope that if we can halve this gap, we can lead the race.”
“Are we fools…?”
There’s certainly no shortage of self-deprecation at Mercedes F1.
Toto Wolff shared an anecdote: James Allison, the technical director, recently presented a PowerPoint titled “Are we fools?” to Mercedes F1’s technical team. A pivotal moment, according to Toto!
“He presented it on a big slide during a full staff meeting: ‘Are we fools?’ The next slide said ‘yes’ and ‘no’. It was then that the team took a major step in understanding what was going wrong in the development of this new generation of cars.”
“I would be the first to say I was a fool. Over the past few years, there were many times I could have been better,” concludes Toto Wolff.
Wolff Guarantees Hamilton a GP Victory. Wolff Guarantees Hamilton a GP Victory
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