Wolff warns: ‘I think it’s going to be very different’ – Mercedes faces a big challenge in 2024 after Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s team failed to win a race in the previous Formula 1 season.
Mercedes faces a big challenge in the 2024 season, as Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s team had never won a race in the previous Formula 1 season. Toto Wolff is aware of this, but is cautiously optimistic about the first signals from W15 in the simulator.
Mercedes, which was completely disappointed with the W13’s ‘zeropod’ concept in 2022, decided to develop the car, but this turned out to be a disappointment after the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix, Wolff said. The Austrian stated that the steering has been completely changed and the car will be radically transformed.
In the same year, this approach did not bring a victory, but positive voices for 2024 are echoing so far. Sky Sports analyst Anthony Davidson, who is still doing simulator work for Mercedes, said the car – at least in the simulator – felt much better than last year.
Wolff: ‘I think it will be very different’
“He was driving in Melbourne and he said: ‘The car feels like a car for the first time in two years,'” Wolff told The Telegraph. “Obviously I would like it to be compatible with the track, but we have seen over the last two years that this is not always the case,” says the team boss, who is also aware that actions speak louder than words.
However, Wolff is confident that his team will perform better in many areas this year. “The way it was determined a few years ago, we interpreted it very conservatively. And we’ve seen other teams do it a different way. So pay attention to that area. I think it’s going to be very different,” he warns.
Toto Wolff warned his drivers to manage expectations at a critical time for Mercedes for the 2024 season.
This year, for the first time in over a decade, the Silver Arrows did not win a single race. Personally, Lewis Hamilton is now winless in over two years since he last took the top step at that season’s penultimate race in Saudi Arabia.
He and George Russell will be keen to win again next year. But given how dominant they have been in the last two campaigns, this will be a big challenge.
Asked about Mercedes’ biggest challenge in 2024, team boss Wolff explained in a video broadcast that he does not want his colleagues and subordinates to not have their heads in the clouds.
“It’s setting the expectations right, because we have a big mountain to climb,” Toto Wolff replied. “We have a very successful team and we have a big gap to close. At the same time, I believe we are taking proactive steps to close that gap.
“Will it be enough? I don’t know – but we’ll see in testing and then in the first race in Bahrain. I’m super excited. I’d like to start going now. The stopwatch will show us what we’ve done.”
