After a dismal start for both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, Toto Wolff is optimistic that Mercedes will get better as the season progresses and has praised the team’s behind-the-scenes work.
Russell is ahead of Hamilton by 10 points in seventh place in the Drivers’ Standings, with Hamilton having only accrued 27 points from the first six races. Actually, Mercedes is currently in fourth place in the Constructor Standings, a massive 60 points behind McLaren in third place and far behind Ferrari and Red Bull.
Wolff doesn’t anticipate noticeable improvement happening right away, but he is confident Mercedes will improve and begin to show better performances. In his opinion, Mercedes needs to be patient if they want to turn things around this season.
“I think we understand much more what is needed to get the car in a better place because it’s so clear now what it does and why we struggle and where we struggle,” said Wolff, as quoted by Motorsportweek.com.
“In Formula 1 you can accelerate development and produce the beats and we’re flat out. The design office is all in, the production operations are flat out. The rest has been doing a good job. All of the factories are really sixth gear in order to bring stuff to the car that we believe can be very helpful.
“In terms of what they’re bringing to the car, you can’t really rush it because you’ve got to get to the point where you say now it’s good to be released into production. And once that part comes, or once it’s come, they need to be sorted. So this is a matter of many weeks.”
Hamilton’s greatest performance of the season came last weekend when he finished sixth in the Miami Grand Prix. Hamilton is expected to depart Mercedes and join Ferrari before 2025. But having not won a race since October 2021, he said after the race that he had “had enough” of his lack of success.
He said, “It’s been tough,” to CBS. Naturally, our purpose is to succeed, and when that doesn’t happen, you have to change your viewpoint. And all that’s been involved is improvement and chase. It has to do with uniting.
“What changes can we make? How can we regroup, get everyone out, and get back to where we want to be? Actually, I had a great time throughout the encounter. But after three years, we decide to return to our proper place because we’ve had enough of this.
