The Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, expressed his frustration with the team’s inability to unlock the full potential of their 2024 Formula 1 car. Since the reintroduction of ground effect aerodynamics in 2022, Mercedes has struggled, going from eight consecutive constructors’ titles to just one win in the last two seasons. Despite positive signs during testing, Mercedes had a disappointing start to the current season, scoring only 26 points in two races.
Two weeks ago in Saudi Arabia, Wolff admitted that Mercedes was facing a fundamental issue with the correlation between their expectations for high-speed corners and the performance of their car. In an attempt to address this problem, the team decided to revert to the original specifications of the car’s floor for the Australian practice sessions. However, this change did not yield the desired results, with Lewis Hamilton finding himself in 18th position during the practice session. Hamilton expressed his dissatisfaction over team radio, and Wolff revealed that their extensive setup test did not go as planned.
After the second practice session, Wolff spoke to Sky F1 and acknowledged that while they were able to carry out the planned experiment, they still had not unlocked the full potential of the car. He described the setup changes made to Hamilton’s car as a “major failure.”
George Russell, the other Mercedes driver, continued to be the team’s best performer in the early stages of the 2024 season. However, he was still 0.674 seconds behind the fastest lap time, finishing in sixth place. Despite the team’s ongoing struggles with the new regulations, Wolff emphasized that they would not give up and remain determined to return to the front of the grid.
Wolff admitted his frustration, stating that it would be dishonest to say otherwise. He acknowledged the team’s efforts in exploring different directions, but expressed disappointment with their inability to find the solution they were looking for. However, he remained optimistic, stating that they had already seen a good performance from their car before and believed they had the necessary resources to overcome the challenges imposed by current regulations.
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