Toto Wolff says Mercedes’ in-season development is unfolding at a pace never seen before by the Brackley squad which is implementing upgrades at “almost every race”.
The 2024 season hasn't been smooth sailing for Mercedes. The team’s W15 third-generation ground effect car was expected to deliver a productive reset to the former championship winning outfit.
Instead, the silver arrow exhibited several of the glaring traits embedded in its predecessors, such as a lack of consistency or peaky behaviour that put the car at a deficit to its Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren rivals.
However, a recent surge in performance which followed the introduction of a new front wing in Monaco hinted at a turning point and at the positive effects of the team’s tireless efforts to iron out its car’s creases through trial and error and targeted development.
The results are undeniable. While George Russell lucked into a surprise victory in Austria, thanks to the on-track spat between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris that ruined both drivers’ race, the win followed back-to-back podiums on merit in Canada and in Spain
Wolff himself is astonished by the frantic pace of upgrades coming out of the Mercedes factory, and admits he’s never witnessed such a dedicated push for development in his entire F1 career.
“I think we are bringing upgrades now almost to every race. The factory is running on full steam,” Wolff told the media in Austria last weekend.
“We’ve never had this in 12 years that we were able to develop, design, manufacturer, bring it to the track and have the quality in the pieces. I’ve seriously never seen that pace.
©Mercedes
“Every single race we have brought upgrades. Every single race, we will bring upgrades and I hope by the summer break we can make another step.
“Now everyone else is working hard, but if we can eat a bit away at that gap.
“I think it was 15 seconds in 70 laps, so two tenths [a lap at the Austrian Grand Prix]… and that’s okay. That’s a P3 and hopefully if we can half it, we can race in front.”
Despite the recent surge, the road to championship glory remains long for Mercedes which currently still sits fourth in F1’s Constructors’ standings, 72 points adrift from third-placed team McLaren.
However, Wolff believes that his team’s recent improvements are not just lucky breaks, but a sign that Mercedes is finally on the right track.
The Austrian is confident that with the consistent stream of upgrades and the car's newfound competitiveness, Mercedes can be genuine contenders for race wins on merit before the season's end.
“On pace, we were the third-quickest car,” Wolff added. “We’ve been this way the last three weekends and that is very encouraging to see that upward trend and the consolidation of the trend.
"But racing happens on Sunday. Sometimes we’ve been on the receiving end and today we’ve benefited from the incident at the front.
“It’s just good to have that win in the pocket this year. It means there’s four teams that won races this year, and it’s been just 2023 where we haven’t won a race since 2011.
“That is good to know and certainly big momentum now in the team to go to a point where we are able on real performance to fight for the win. And I think we will be.”
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