Toto Wolff has been having a tough time as a team principal of Mercedes in the last few years. There was a time when he became the most successful team boss with the Silver Arrows. From 2014 to 2021, the Austrian billionaire boss ruled the grid thanks to the German outfit. Currently, he is constantly getting questions regarding the possibility of leaving the team. However, the team principal of the Silver Arrows made it clear that it is not possible for him to join another team. Wolff holds a 33% stake in the Mercedes F1 team. More importantly, his emotional connection to the team is very deep. He really wants to lead the team to another world championship.
But looking at the current car and the cars of the last three years, it is not looking very promising for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team. Last year, the German outfit was winless. In 2022, they managed to win only one race in Brazil. But this year, they had a really bad start to the year in terms of performance. Toto Wolff knows that the big problem is his team’s lack of understanding of the potential of the car. Moreover, there is a big issue with the correlation between simulation results and on-track results. Lately, the Mercedes boss mentioned that his team spotted a big issue with the W15 car.
What’s The Big Issue Mercedes Is Dealing With In Their Car?
Over the last couple of years, Mercedes has had to deal with several issues in its car. In 2022, there was a porpoising issue because of the innovative but controversial zero-side pod concept. Then, the W14 as well as W15 cars have been facing issues on the high-speed tracks. Even in 2024, it seems the Brackley team has not been able to fix that issue. During the qualifying session in Japan, the two Merc drivers finished at P7 and P9. It was not the ideal position, but Lewis Hamilton said the car had never felt better in the last three years. However, after the final day in the Japanese GP, Hamilton really looked “Clueless” about the car. Later, Toto Wolff talked about the perplexing disconnect between simulation data and real-world on-track performance, as per Judge13.com.
Moreover, the Mercedes boss mentioned that there is a limitation in the car. In the last few years, the team has followed a certain trajectory, and they kept turning in circles. But this year, Toto Wolff said they thought they got to try something different. The team principal explained that they measure the downforce with pressure tabs and their sensors. Later, the data shows they have 70 points more downforce this year in a certain corner in Australia than in 2023. But the on-track performance shows it is not a km/hour faster. Hence, it doesn’t make any sense. Clearly, they are facing some limitations.
W15 Is Sensitive To Track Temperatures
Toto Wolff said the W15 car is sensitive to the track temperature. But that is not the only reason why the team performed so horribly in Japan, feels the Mercedes boss. He said a three-degree difference in track temperature caused the car to behave differently. This difference may have caused Mercedes problems in the second stint but not so much in the first stint.
There sure is some missing piece for the German outfit, feels Wolff. Moreover, Toto Wolff added, “Trying to extend it to one stop and losing more time with overtakes” may have caused even more issues that resulted in the awful performance in the first stint. Clearly, the 2024 season so far has been a year full of confusion and unfulfilled expectations for Toto’s team.
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