Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is happy that the new upgrades to the W14 car made the lives of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell easier than before. But he sure knows how tough the next phase of the season is going to be. On the other hand, the arch-rivals Red Bull is cruising to yet another constructor’s title as they are 130 points ahead of Mercedes. Although currently, Mercedes is only a point behind Aston Martin, who is in second place after Red Bull. The reigning champions are lucky to have the best car on the grid at present.
W14 is clearly a far cry in front of RB19. Initially, the same concept of Mercedes W13 was there in the making of W14. That’s the reason why they fell so far behind in the competition. Moreover, it was always going to be challenging to compete against Red Bull for the title. With the old version of W14, Mercedes would reach nowhere. However, they have implemented new upgrades to the car, finally in Monaco, after a long wait. Despite that, Toto Wolff is still not totally happy because of the “nasty rear.”
Toto Wolff Not Happy With Mercedes W14’s Rear
Albeit, Mercedes did not have much success in the Monaco Grand Prix this year. But Lewis Hamilton was very much delighted after driving with the modifications. He mentioned, “I can feel the car is in a much better state. We just need to build on the improvements in the upcoming race in Barcelona next weekend.” Toto Wolff also agreed with Hamilton that they are now on the right track after adding new side pods. But he believes that it will take time to get on the winning ways.
At first, they need to be sure of what the W14 car with new upgrades is capable of doing. However, the Mercedes boss mentioned the rear downforce is still a matter of concern. Toto Wolff noted, “It is a nasty problem for the drivers to deal with on the race track.” However, after a long time, the car feels together, and that’s a good sign for the German team, as per the Mercedes boss. Moreover, Toto Wolff suggests that they are good at grinding stuff away. They need to dial out of the car what is not working, like the rear, front suspension, extravagant bodywork, and so on.
Boss Feels The Car Will Get Better Gradually
Moreover, unlike Lewis Hamilton, Toto Wolff asserted that Barcelona will not be enough to suggest what is good and what is bad in the car after adding the new upgrades. It will take time to figure out the best version of the W14 car. However, Wolff is happy with the start after modifications. But he suggests that the performance of the car will increase with every race.
Like the one after Barcelona is Montreal, which is a bit tricky outlier again. That is why Mercedes’ boss tries to stay realistic as he believes the performance will gradually get better but won’t be right there all of a sudden. Toto Wolff did not have much expectation from the Monaco Grand Prix. Hence, whatever the German team gained last weekend is a plus.
