Mercedes had a pretty tough season last year. It became even more challenging as the W14 car became increasingly inconsistent in every race. Moreover, it became even more difficult to understand the car for the Brackley team. That’s why the German team gathered as much data from the W14 car as they could the whole year. On the other hand, the only team to beat Red Bull last year was Ferrari in the Singaporean Grand Prix.
If that was not enough of a setback for the German team, then the performance of George Russell was even more concerning. The former Williams driver had a great debut in 2022, beating the seven-time champion. Moreover, Russell won the only race for Toto Wolff’s team in 2022. However, Lewis Hamilton performed far better than his teammate in 2023. And Russell really struggled with the W14 car. That’s why Toto Wolff feels he must talk with him.
Toto Wolff Thinks It’s Necessary To Get Feedback From George Russell
According to PlanetF1, Toto Wolff recently mentioned George Russell is a strong character. Lewis Hamilton’s teammate impressed the Mercedes boss in the way he came out of the summer. Moreover, Wolff feels that Russell changed his approach, and it worked for him. But later, things just swung the other way around. In the end, Lewis Hamilton went on to perform extraordinarily well, feels Wolff. Hence, the Mercedes boss feels it is necessary to discuss with Russell to get his valuable feedback. But Toto Wolff blamed the “Fragile cars” for these unexpected swings from track to track. Wolff said drivers can go from a great weekend to a very bad weekend all of a sudden. However, Wolff feels the need for encouragement and an “Arm around the shoulders” in times of need.
#F1 | George Russell is confident Mercedes will not fall into some design “traps” with the W15 as it did with the W14.
— deni (@fiagirly) January 2, 2024
“[We have been] working on the new concept for a long time and there’s been so much due diligence gone into that concept. Whereas I think last year it was all a…
F1 2024. Let's go! 💪 pic.twitter.com/EQVynvBedL
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) January 1, 2024
He thinks every high performer needs an arm around their shoulder. Wolff mentioned he has his wife for that. Anyway, George Russell mentioned in an interview with Motorsport.com that he feels 2024 will be different from the previous two seasons. He feels the team rushed a bit too much last season with the car. They didn’t have enough information but jumped to conclusions last year. Albeit, the German team made some progress in 2023, there was a lot of baggage. Russell feels the team didn’t consider it initially. But this year, the 25-year-old driver feels the team has done a great job to get the best understanding of what they must do this year.
How The Zero Sidepod Concept Ruined It For Mercedes?
It is very clear that the Brackley team realized they should give up on the zero-side pod concept. It really did not help the team win any race except the one in Brazil in 2022. Last year, Mercedes remained winless, owing to their zero side concept. Who knows how much this concept helped the team? Instead, it is clear how that concept made the Brackley team look absolutely miserable. On top of that, it was even more unfortunate for the former Williams driver George Russell.
He made his debut for Mercedes in 2022, hoping to be a contender. It is quite understandable, as the Silver Arrows dominated the grid for eight years in a row. But 2022 saw the team fall really low from the top of the standings. Both Red Bull and Ferrari were faster than Toto Wolff’s team in 2022. However, last year, Mercedes finished second without winning a single Grand Prix.
