Toto Wolff labels Mercedes’ W14 as ‘Diva 2.0’ and extra difficult to repair than 2017 automobile which first bought that title; Wolff confirms Mercedes to switch focus to creating their 2024 automobile “pretty soon” and says they’ve to take encouragement from McLaren and Aston Martin jumps in efficiency
Last Updated: 12/07/23 5:39pm
Toto Wolff has labelled Mercedes’ automobile one other “diva” and says the group haven’t any selection however to switch focus to their 2024 challenger imminently.
Lewis Hamilton completed third in Sunday’s British GP however was unable to overtake McLaren’s Lando Norris for second as Max Verstappen claimed one other victory to prolong his championship lead.
Mercedes are second within the Constructors’ Championship however a mammoth 208 factors behind Red Bull, whereas Hamilton is fourth within the drivers’ standings, 134 factors off Verstappen.
With the Silver Arrows’ hopes of reclaiming their world titles already over, Wolff is prepared to focus on producing a title-contending automobile for 2024.
“I think pretty soon, we have no choice,” the Mercedes boss mentioned when requested when that switch would come.
“P2 or P3 essentially would not impression me and the group. It’s about coming again and having the ability to win a world championship.
Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton treated the Silverstone crowd to an epic battle, following the safety car.
“That’s not going to occur this 12 months so we want to set our eyes to subsequent 12 months and then see in any respect the races to come, to study, develop and guarantee that we will carry that ahead into subsequent 12 months.
“But, having said that, the regulations are the same so you’re not learning nothing by continuing this car. It’s a balance that we have to strike right.”
Wolff had thought the British GP would ship certainly one of Mercedes’ strongest showings of the 12 months however Hamilton and George Russell certified seventh and sixth respectively and whereas Hamilton completed on the rostrum, he obtained an enormous serving to hand by having the ability to make his solely pit cease below the Safety Car and due to this fact keep forward of those that had already stopped.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have been left massively impressed by the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, following the British GP at Silverstone.
Wolff maintains Mercedes can nonetheless beat Red Bull and Max Verstappen on monitor this 12 months, however that the W14’s unpredictability and “diva” traits – a time period which Wolff first used to describe the fluctuating performances of Mercedes’ 2017 automobile – is hindering them.
“I thought that Silverstone based on our historic performances was the best shot (of a first win in 2023), but it wasn’t,” Wolff mentioned.
“So maybe there’s another track where we have the best shot because the characteristics of the car have changed.
“I at all times imagine that we will beat Max. We have a great group of individuals, one of the best drivers and we simply have to give them a automobile that’s extra predictable and not the Diva 2.0 and rather more difficult than the primary one.”
Wolff: McLaren and Aston Martin progress has to give encouragement
Highlights from the British GP at Silverstone, as Max Verstappen looked to secure a sixth consecutive race win.
As they seek to return to world championship contention, Wolff feels Mercedes need to be encouraged rather than frustrated by the big steps in performance Aston Martin and now McLaren have made in 2023.
Aston Martin have emerged as a front-running team this year while the upgrades McLaren have added to their car in Austria and Silverstone have lifted it from being arguably the slowest car at the start of the season to second on merit last the weekend.
Wolff said: “Why it is thrilling to see the McLaren bounce again is you could, inside a season, include upgrades that change utterly the efficiency of the automobile. We’re not talking about two tenths up and down, we’re talking a few second.
“That’s good for the sport that if you do the right thing, you put one and one together – and we’ve seen it with the Aston Martin from year to year and we’ve seen it with the McLaren now during the year. I like it.
Check out the funniest moments from the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
“We’ve been preventing with our automobile for a 12 months and a half attempting to add efficiency, it got here in nevertheless it’s simply chipping away these small features reasonably than to do such a step.
“But I really see the positives. Fundamentally I don’t care if we finish second or third, it’s important to find our way back to fighting for victories and the world championship. While podiums are really happy for us to see that the car has potential, fundamentally all eyes are on the big prize and that’s why it’s exciting to see that McLaren was able to find a second in performance.”
Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz displays on the British Grand Prix.
Mercedes to comply with Red Bull sidepod design in 2024?
Aston Martin and McLaren’s progress has come at the side of their automobiles visually trying extra just like the Red Bull, which stays unbeaten this season.
Mercedes deserted their ‘no-sidepod’ idea with an enormous aero improve bundle on the Monaco GP and Wolff hinted the group is re-evaluating whether or not to use a Red Bull-inspired design in 2024.
“The sidepods and the bodywork are just one part of the chassis. Clearly it looks like very interesting solutions that it opens up but most of the performance comes through the floor and diffuser and we haven’t seen how they interpreted the regulations and how they’ve done it.
“So in my view, it is simply the bundle. We see that the sturdy automobiles all look a little bit bit the identical once you look from the aspect and from top-down. And definitely that has performed in our minds already again within the day. But perhaps that is just a bit extra indication the place it goes.
Karun Chandhok and Jenson Button analyse Lewis Hamilton’s seat place in his Mercedes.
“We had the sidepod concept and the bodywork in the tunnel very early on already to see which avenues it would open up and how much it would add to performance. And the relative loss of the downforce, the way we measure it, was substantial.
“So it is not one thing that we wished to comply with up early within the 12 months. We modified our design route, I believe we’ve an amazing group of aerodynamics led by (technical director) James (Allison) and I’m positive that it will be a consideration seeing the step they made.”
Wolff has also confirmed Hamilton and Russell’s seating position will be further back in the car on Mercedes’ 2024 design.
“It’s undoubtedly one thing we wish to take off the desk as a potential dialogue level,” Wolff said.
“On the info we do not see huge discrepancies to what the automobile must be doing, however these automobiles stay a shock field so the motive force’s going to transfer backwards.”
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