Toto Wolff says Mercedes are now on ‘right trajectory’ with W14 car but prepared for more setbacks

Mercedes now have a “clear direction” for car development, Toto Wolff says; F1’s former champions plan to bring regular upgrades to W14 across upcoming races; watch the Azerbaijan GP live on Sky Sports F1 from April 28-30 as F1 returns from its four-week break

Toto Wolff believes Mercedes are now on the “right trajectory” with their car although acknowledges there will likely be further setbacks in 2023.

Mercedes had hoped over the winter their W14 would return them to title contention after seeing their dominance of the sport ended in 2022 as they struggled for performance under F1’s new regulations.

But it has been another disappointing start to the year with Wolff describing the season opener in Bahrain as “one of his worst days in racing” and promising radical changes, while Lewis Hamilton has also been critical of the car’s design.

However after an improved display at the Australian GP, in which Hamilton finished second to claim the team’s first podium of the year, Wolff believes the team now know what is required to improve the W14.

“In terms of car development, it is encouraging to see that within three races, we understand the car much better, we have defined a clear direction where we need to go and I believe we are on the right trajectory,” Wolff told Mercedes’ website.

“We need to consolidate our understanding and hopefully over the next few races we can make another step.

“It’s also important to keep on track and not oscillate too much between exuberance and depression; to stay rational and believe in our trajectory, believe in the capability of the team.

“There will be setbacks but there will also be upgrades and plenty of work that will help us get closer to the front.”

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Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton says his P2 finish in Australia is a great result and gives the team hope as they look to catch up with Red Bull

Following a four-week break due to the cancellation of the Chinese GP, F1 enters a period of five races in six weeks. Next week’s Azerbaijan GP is immediately followed by the Miami GP before the first triple-header of the season as the sport heads to Imola, Monaco and Barcelona.

Wolff says Mercedes will be adding new bits to the W14 throughout that period but is not expecting a sudden transformation.

“We will consistently be bringing upgrades to the car over the next few races, which is something to look forward to,” he said.

“But there is no such thing as a magic bullet that transforms the car, and it’s about being realistic with your expectations. Hopefully we will see a steady improvement.”

‘Merc need steeper development curve than Red Bull’

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Max Verstappen gets DRS on Lewis Hamilton and makes an easy overtake to take the lead of the Australian Grand Prix

Mercedes are third in the constructors’ standing after the opening three Grands Prix, 67 points behind reigning champions Red Bull and nine points behind 2023’s surprise package Aston Martin. Hamilton and George Russell are fourth and seventh respectively in the drivers’ championship.

Having been over half a second off Red Bull’s pole position times in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Mercedes closed some of that gap in Australia as Russell and Hamilton qualified second and third, with the former two tenths off Max Verstappen’s pole time.

While both drivers got past Verstappen at the start of the race in Melbourne, Russell was forced to retire while the RB19’s superior speed was evidenced by Verstappen breezing past Hamilton on his way to his second victory of the season.

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George Russell’s car sets on fire and he is out of the race with a power unit issue!

Wolff has challenged his team to out-develop Red Bull to be back in a position to regularly contend for victories.

He said: “We understand the knowledge that we need to recover. We need to have a steeper development curve than Red Bull and fundamentally, we want to compete for race wins.

“They are setting the benchmark now.

“We trust in the process and in the people, and there will be setbacks. But if the trajectory is up, that’s where we want to be heading.”

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Craig Slater breaks down how Formula 1 teams will take advantage of the four-week schedule gap between races in Australia and Azerbaijan

Wolff: We’re not entitled to be at the front

Wolff also insisted Mercedes do not feel they are entitled to be racing at the front of the grid following their previous dominance of the sport.

Reflecting on the start to the season, Wolff said: “It’s been difficult so far.

“With the way we developed the car, we were hopeful of sorting out our issues from last year. And we realised we weren’t coming out of the blocks where we expected to be.

“Having said that, we don’t feel any sense of entitlement. This is the toughest competition in the world, and it wouldn’t be such a fantastic challenge, if it was easy.

“Three races into the season, I think we saw that one team is setting the benchmark now. In Australia though, we saw glimpses of performance in our car that encourages us for the next part of the season.”

The Formula 1 season resumes with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from April 28-30, with the first Sprint weekend of 2023 shown in full live on Sky Sports F1. Watch Saturday’s Sprint at 2:30pm and Sunday’s race at 12pm. Get Sky Sports