Mercedes will display 2022 car as 'symbol of boldness'

Toto Wolff wants Mercedes' troubled W13 silver arrow to sit in solemn silence in the lobby of the Brackley squad's headquarters, not as a emblem of humility but as "a symbol of boldness".

Wolff will likely remember for years to come his team's 2022 campaign, and its infamous 'zero sidepod' bucking bronco that now embodies the challenges, setbacks and struggles endured by the championship winning outfit last season.

Lewis Hamilton suggested relegating the W13 as far back as possible in Mercedes' storage room. But Wolff initially ordered the car to be parked in clear sight of the team's members to remind them all that an outfit, regardless of a past dominant track record, should never be satisfied with its achievements.

However, on second thought, Wolff wants the car to instill something different, something inherently linked to the very reason for its failure.

• Read also: Mercedes 'looking at solutions' to change zero sidepod design

"It's going to go in the lobby," Wolff said last week at the team's launch of its 2023 contender.

"But I've changed my approach a little bit, because I wanted to put it in the lobby as a reminder that you must not rest on your laurels.

"But actually, I want to place it in the lobby because it is a symbol of boldness for me, and courage. We took a radical design direction last year. We dared and we failed.

"So for me that shows a lot about the mindset of team, how it is important to cope with success or failure at the same time. I wouldn't want us to go in any shape or form conservative in the future.

"I want us to take calculated risk and be bold."

As painful as it was for Mercedes, and especially for its drivers, to endure the vagaries and at one point even the dangers of its faulty design, Wolff believes his team is now better off with that failure on its books and in everyone's memory.

"I think what's great in the team is that there is so much energy and so much motivation," he explained.

"Because, after many very successful years, you always run the risk that it becomes normal, or it becomes the baseline to win.

"Obviously, we were taught the tough lesson last year that you've got to just be the best yourself, [be] the best team in order to fight this formidable competition.

"Therefore, getting it wrong last year, I believe will be good long-term."

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