Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff admits that they have wasted time in the process of making their concept work, while their rivals have developed further. Speaking to Sportskeeda ahead of the Bahrain GP, the Austrian acknowledged that it was time to reassess the course of direction with the development of his car.
Asked by Sportskeeda if they had wasted time in the process of improving their concept car while their rivals got into the game, Wolff said:
“Yeah, definitely, the tests weren’t clean, we had big swings in performance. We didn’t get it. I think we had unlocked some potential yesterday that we’ve seen today. The gaps are not huge. But because the best cars are so close to each other, between three four teams. Aston Martin now has its ups and downs, but that can change a lot. Definitely, every day counts, losing these days, it will be difficult to catch up and therefore we must make the right and precise decisions now to set the sails in the right direction.”
While Mercedes spent most of its 2022 season solving its performance problems with the W13, rivals Red Bull and Ferrari managed to develop their concepts and improve their performance. Acknowledging that they have wasted time, Wolff believes they cannot afford to lose any more with the development of the W14. He felt it was time for the team to respond to their current design philosophy. Wolff feels that his car is not good enough compared to his rivals, as the competition between the top three and four teams is very close.
However, his client Aston Martin team showed competitive pace and dominated the weekend in practice sessions, and definitely looked more competitive than them. The Silverstone field uses the same gearbox, powertrain and rear suspension as Mercedes, but has managed to be just as competitive as Red Bull. Wolff believes that it is at top speed that they lose maximum performance compared to their rivals.
Asked if the Aston Martin concept had answers to its performance problems, Wolff said:
“They gained two seconds in half a year, and their car is half ours from the engine, gearbox and rear suspension. They use the same wind tunnel, so there are a lot of parallels. We just have to acknowledge that they have done an exceptional job. If it was mechanical or suspension [weakness] then Aston Martin should have it too. The point is that we are losing it at high speed. It’s turns 5/6/7. This is pretty much the only place where we are wasting large amounts of time. We are good in the other corners, we are good on the straight”.
Toto Wolff admits that the W14 is not competitive and that Mercedes needs to take a new direction
Admitting that they have almost lost faith in the concept of their current car, Wolff feels that the team will have to discuss what can be changed to make the car competitive. Hinting that they might consider a different design philosophy, the Mercedes boss suggested that they need to have a car that will help them win and achieve podium finishes.
Commenting on the Mercedes W14 and its potential, Wolff said:
“I don’t think this package is going to be competitive eventually. We did our best all winter, and now we just have to regroup and sit down with the engineers, who are by no means dogmatic. There are no sacred cows and we must decide what development direction we want to follow in order to be competitive and win races.”
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Building on Sportskeeda’s question, when asked about the direction they wanted to go, the Mercedes boss said:
“It’s all the development of the car. We are finding good downforce in the tunnel, and we have been finding good downforce in the tunnel for many months now. But we have to see how we can optimize it in a way where maybe we’ll find more of it. What I really enjoy is working as a team and discovering that, and I said it last year, sometimes it’s important in the long run to be wrong. I trust every millimeter in the engineers and we got the physics wrong. Now we have to correct it because there are another three years of regulations to go.”
Without mentioning whether they were switching entirely to a new concept car midway through, the Mercedes boss hinted that they needed a change in direction with their car design and philosophy. With budget limits in place, developing two concepts simultaneously could become an expensive affair. However, Wolff clarified that they needed to greatly overhaul the entire development of their car. While the porpoise is a thing of the past, tuning the W14’s performance is one area they are struggling with.