Toto Wolff has seen great days with Mercedes as opposed to the days he is going through in recent times. He is undoubtedly the most successful team principal of F1 Motorsport. This success came in back-to-back years in a timeline that lasted seven years. The Silver Arrows won eight constructor titles and seven driver’s world championships. This kind of success story for any F1 team has been unprecedented before.
But in a gap of a couple of years, that era looks like some good old memories for the Austrian billionaire executive. Since Lewis Hamilton lost the driver’s championship back in 2021, the German team has lost its dominance on the grid. The Austrian energy drink conglomerate company’s F1 team has been enjoying supremacy ever since. Even in the new season in 2023, it seems like the Red Bull team is way ahead of the rest. But why are the Silver Arrows unable to bring a perfect car? Keep reading to find out.
Toto Wolff Blames The Perfect Storm For The Change Of Plans
Boss Toto Wolff now realizes that carrying on with the same concept of the car was a terrible mistake. Wolff spoke about the realization to Motorsport, saying, “The Brazilian Grand Prix was the perfect storm. It made us repeat the mistake this year as well.” But the Mercedes boss hopes that the modifications in Imola may save them from having another disastrous season. Out of the 22 races scheduled for this year, three are over, and the German team hopes that it doesn’t get too late before they go to Imola.
According to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas CEO, whatever happens, it is not stupid to aim for the stars because everybody needs the motivation to move forward. Wolff asserted that they are looking at the future in a bit different way. They are taking the season as a two-pronged season. First, they need to get the car ready to match up with Ferrari and Aston Martin. Later, they can shift their focus to beating Red Bull. It is all about one thing at a time.
Mercedes Repeated The Same Mistake Of W13 With W14 As Well
But why has the German team not managed to build a car that could give tough competition to the current champions in a gap of two years? It is because of the disastrous and confusing season Mercedes has gone through last year. Throughout the season, the team claimed that the porpoising issue had been an immense pain in the neck for them. However, at the fag end of the season, things started to look to get better for Mercedes with a few podium finishes.
It could have been because Ferrari was facing a lot of reliability issues with their car. However, the German team was planning to make big changes in their W14 car for the 2023 season. If it was not for the Brazilian Grand Prix that saw the two Mercedes drivers winning P1 and P2. It was a great blast from the past kind of a situation when Mercedes tasted victory at a Grand Prix. That victory changed the plans again, and the team thought to carry on with the same concept of W13 to W14 as well.