The head of the Mercedes team, Toto Wolff, expressed optimism about McLaren’s victory in Miami, highlighting the potential of the Formula 1 engine. McLaren secured their second win since the introduction of the V6 turbo-hybrid engines in 2014, with Lando Norris achieving his first F1 victory after a long wait. Meanwhile, Mercedes had a disappointing performance, with Lewis Hamilton finishing in sixth place and George Russell two positions behind. Nevertheless, Wolff believes that McLaren’s success with their power unit should inspire Mercedes to make the necessary upgrades to match their customer team.
Wolff praised McLaren, acknowledging their significant progress since last year when they struggled in qualifying and races. He emphasized the importance of McLaren’s victory, considering that they achieved it with a Mercedes engine. He sees this as proof that, with the right upgrades and work, similar steps can be taken by Mercedes. Wolff expressed his satisfaction with Mercedes’ performance during the Sprint weekend, navigating through complexities without making drastic changes to the setup that had previously affected them in China.
Hamilton tried to overtake Sergio Perez’s Red Bull for fifth place in the final laps, but couldn’t find an opportunity. Wolff noted that Mercedes was faster than Perez towards the end of the race, even with the same tire compound. However, he acknowledged that the team struggled on the harder compounds. Russell faced difficulties behind Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull Racing, with Wolff attributing the W15’s struggles to lack of grip on the hard tire. He expressed frustration with the performance of the hard tire, describing it as lacking speed and grip. On the other hand, he mentioned that the medium tire provided more grip, especially during Lewis’ second stint, where he seemed faster than Perez, serving as the only reference point for comparison.
© 2024
