Toto Wolff, the head of the Mercedes F1 team, admits that the current situation where Mercedes cannot challenge the high-ranking battle between rivals Red Bull and Ferrari is “extremely painful” and says it is a “practice of humility”.
The Mercedes F1 team continued to struggle at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last weekend, with George Russell finishing fifth in the final, while teammate Lewis Hamilton finished the race in tenth.
But the shocking result of Lewis Hamilton’s knockout in qualifying Q1 on Saturday rather than the final solves the problems of Mercedes F1 in 2022, especially the chronic popping problem. Showed that it was still far from it.
Toto Wolff is pleased to see the fierce battle between Red Bull and Ferrari as a sports fan, but as a team owner, he says he is struggling to see Mercedes lagging behind for the first time in eight years. talk.
“We were in the middle of a fun game at the top, talking as an F1 stakeholder and benefiting from a great show, which is really great to see,” Toto Wolff said.
“But on the other hand, it’s very painful not to be able to participate in these fun games due to a significant lack of lap time.”
“We’re not going to rest until we get back to that fight. But you’re absolutely right. It’s not fun at all. It’s a practice of humility and will eventually strengthen us.”
Last weekend, George Russell believes the Mercedes W13 has a fair amount of lap time and can solve the problem to catch up with rivals Red Bull and Ferrari.
However, Toto Wolff finds it difficult to assess the true relative performance of the Mercedes W13.
“We haven’t been able to drive the car the way we want it to,” Toto Wolff said.
“Therefore, it is very difficult to actually assess the lack of lap time if the car can be run low.”
“I strongly hope that the gap is much closer than what I saw today, but there are deficits everywhere.”
Category: Category: F1 / Mercedes
