Russell and Hamilton now have a smoother vehicle at their disposal in the W15.
Mercedes has announced that it is “operating at full capacity” as it strives to bring unprecedented improvements to build on its victory in the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.
The German manufacturer’s transformation this season reached its peak last weekend, when George Russell secured his first win since triumphing in Brazil in November 2022.
Mercedes had a challenging start in 2024 as it struggled to keep up with its competitors due to an unpredictable W15 car, which was a complete departure from its predecessor.
However, an assertive development plan propelled Mercedes back into contention, with Russell’s second F1 win marking the team’s third consecutive podium finish.
While he celebrated the end of his drought, Wolff acknowledged that Mercedes benefited from a controversial incident between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen at the end of the race.
With Russell trailing by 13 seconds when the leading duo collided with seven laps remaining, Wolff admitted, “In terms of speed, we were the third fastest car.
“And we have been in that position for the past three weekends, which is very encouraging as it shows an upward trend and the consolidation of that trend.
“But races happen on Sundays. Sometimes, we have been on the losing side and today we benefited from the incident up front.
“It is simply satisfying to have secured a win this year. It means that there are four teams that have won races this year, and it has been since 2011 that we haven’t won a race in 2023.
“That is good to know, and it certainly gives the team a significant boost to reach a point where we can compete for victory based on actual performance. And I believe we will.”
Wolff praised the extensive work done behind the scenes at Mercedes headquarters in Brackley to put the team back in a position to compete at the highest level.
The Austrian expressed his excitement in introducing new components at each race, something he had never witnessed before, and this strengthens his belief that Mercedes will narrow the gap.
“I believe that now we are bringing improvements to almost every race,” he revealed. “The factory is operating at full capacity.
“We have never experienced this in the last 12 years, where we have been able to develop, design, manufacture, bring to the track and have quality in the parts.
“I have truly never seen this level of pace. We have brought improvements to every race.
“For every race, we will bring improvements, and I hope that by the summer break, we can take another step. Now, everyone else is working hard.
“But if we can gradually reduce this difference. It was 15 seconds over 70 laps, so two tenths [per lap]… and that is acceptable. That is a P3, and I hope that if we can reduce it by half, we can compete at the front.”
