JABAR EKSPRES – Mercedes racing team boss Toto Wolff believes his team can compete fiercely against Red Bull next season with the recent moves and strategies made by McLaren and Aston Martin as inspiration.
He cited Aston Martin’s good performance from 2022 to 2023 and the sizable mid-season upgrade package that enabled McLaren to compete this season.
“From where we are now, we just need a step like McLaren and Aston Martin have achieved in one go, not a (slow) improvement, but an improvement that makes us faster to get back to (top performance). So, yes, I think that possibility can be done,” Wolff was quoted as saying on the official Formula 1 website, Thursday (9/14).
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After winning eight consecutive constructors’ titles, Mercedes had a challenging start to the new F1 era in 2022 and is still struggling to get back on a more competitive track.
The team nicknamed the Silver Arrows is second in the constructors’ standings, 310 points behind Red Bull who have won every race since last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and look set for another double.
When asked if the team knew what specifically they wanted to do with the next car, Wolff said they had some ideas.
“I think we have some direction; if we knew it would be much easier. The car is very unpredictable and lacks grip so there are a lot of things we need to address,” Wolff said.
“We just need to get all the components to work well together in the car, so I won’t mention any one thing,” he added.
As for Mercedes’ immediate prospects, Wolff also weighed in on their chances at this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit which has high downforce and is thought to be better suited to their W14 car.
