“When the leader is not sure, then what do other people do through the company?” says David Coulthard about the Mercedes principal Toto Wolff, who soon settled with apologies rather than promising a momentary upgrade after the lackluster in the two initial races of the 2023 season.
Two years ago, the F1 team Mercedes was the construction’s world champion. The team claimed 9 wins, 8 brought by Lewis Hamilton and 1 by Valtteri Bottas. That was probably the last year for Mercedes to enjoy the V6 Turbo hybrid era because, after that, the ground floor effects got implemented in which Mercedes had no expertise. Within a fraction of one year, Mercedes went from fighting for Lewis Hamilton’s eighth constructor’s championship to struggling to win just one race in order to save themselves from passing a winless season.
Why Is George Russell Doing Better Than Lewis Hamilton In Mercedes?
The team welcomed 2023 with hopes of forming a strong comeback. But all they got is P5, P7 and P5, and P4 in Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, respectively. Lewis Hamilton once again dwelled behind George Russell in Jeddah like the last F1 season. Why so? How is George Russell, a newcomer with not much experience defeating Hamilton, who has seven world titles?
The W14 is not a championship-winning machine, but still, George Russell can bring out more of it as he did in the Jeddah Corniche Circuit while Lewis Hamilton keeps complaining about it. The reason for that is, “Russell is coming up through Williams. And Mercedes is [no doubt] still the best car he ever got to drive. But for Lewis Hamilton, the W14 is not the best he has ever driven,” said Coulthard.
Given the fact that Russell managed to make his first F1 win with the worst Mercedes car in 2022 and Hamilton lost every streak he had, David believes it is all because George Russell has been trained in Williams. He is accustomed to driving substandard F1 cars. Unlike Hamilton, who got the best cars since when he joined the team.
David Coulthard Figures Out Lack Of Leadership Qualities In Toto Wolff
Nevertheless, accepting the reality that 2023 is not Mercedes’s comeback, instead, it’s meant for Aston Martin, the team is trying to pursue new concepts. Its principal Toto Wolff has already claimed that we are looking for a game-changer idea. This will ditch the unique side pod design that Mercedes brought with the W13 for the first time. Not only that, but boss Toto Wolff also exclaimed that Mercedes would not mind if the new upgrades looked similar to Red Bull or Aston Martin, or a double-decker bus. “If it brings the pace we want, Mercedes will do it,” he said.
When millions of Mercedes fans asked the reasons why their hopes were shattered once again, Toto Wolff emerged to blame the engineers. This behavior of the boss underwent criticism by many f1 pundits, including the former F1 driver David Coulthard, who even questioned his leadership.
“Very quickly, the finger-pointing has started,” he said. David further reckoned that Toto Wolff always preferred an open approach and had been very heart-on-sleeve. But in difficult situations, he forgot to hold back. According to David, if the boss is not so sure, then what does that do to the company?
In addition, the apologies that Toto Wolff has been asking for from people, just after one race, are not liked by Coulthard. At least, give it a half season, and then go for apologies! All of this chaos, anxiety, and tensions occurring in Mercedes after an astronomical success period is based on just one thing: leadership. To David Coulthard, the reason for Mercedes’s downfall is “a case of success being a lousy teacher.”
