Toto Wolff: « the team still needs to improve before it can stop hesitating »
Third at the end of the Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton gave Mercedes a fifth consecutive podium finish. A performance with which boss Toto Wolff is satisfied, even if he acknowledges that the team needs to improve if it is to win races on a regular basis.
After a difficult start to the season, the Mercedes seem to be finding their form again, securing their fifth consecutive podium with Lewis Hamilton’s third place finish this weekend in Hungary. The team’s improvements since Monaco are paying off, creating a much less tense atmosphere compared to the opening race in Bahrain. However, for Toto Wolff, there is still a long way to go before being able to compete regularly with Red Bull and McLaren.
The McLarens were very strong on Sunday and out of reach for us in these hot conditions. Congratulations to them and to Oscar, they deserved today’s victory. They are the strongest team against Red Bull. Unfortunately, we are too far behind, but they deserve their win. It’s a good thing for all of us. But in these conditions, we were never good. We were not at the level to reach them, said the Austrian boss.
Andrew Shovlin, trackside engineering director at Mercedes, corroborated Wolff’s comments: « First of all, congratulations to McLaren and to Oscar. A double is a very difficult result to achieve, and they are setting the bar very high right now. We were able to maximize the result with Lewis because, without any incidents, we simply didn’t have the pace to compete with McLaren. »
This observation can be painful for a team that has experienced so much success in the past, but it underlines the importance of perseverance that the team must continue to demonstrate. Toto Wolff fully understands this need and insists on the fact that the team must continue to improve to optimize its race weekends.
During the race, we still have moments of hesitation and questioning, and to progress, we must develop the car and be more efficient, added the Austrian. He emphasizes the importance of these improvements to avoid relying on opportunistic and alternative strategies, as was the case at the Hungarian Grand Prix where Hamilton took advantage of Verstappen’s nervousness and a different strategy from his opponents to step onto the third step of the podium.
(I) I don’t know if we were faster than Max today. We beat him on the track, probably not in pure race time », continued the Mercedes boss. However, with this new podium, the team is now moving forward with renewed confidence and a certain optimism to achieve new victories.
« We still have work to do to be at the forefront every weekend, but we are moving in the right direction. The energy and enthusiasm in the team are palpable. We have a few days to prepare; it will be interesting to see how the W15 reacts to cooler conditions than those we experienced here in Hungary this weekend », analyzed Shovlin.
On a track like Spa, made up of long straight lines and fast corners, the Mercedes should be in their element, as they won the Silverstone Grand Prix, a circuit similar to the one at the Belgian Grand Prix in its layout.
