Toto Wolff believes validation of Mercedes’ decision to pursue an alternative development direction has resulted in a feeling with the car the team has not experienced “for a long time”.
Since the introduction of new aerodynamic regulations at the start of last year, it has taken 18 months and 30 grands prix for team principal Wolff to finally express optimism for the future.
Despite the one-two spearheaded by George Russell in the penultimate race of last season in São Paulo, Mercedes very quickly recognised at the start of this year that the development path it was on was no longer viable.
By the Monaco Grand Prix, Mercedes rolled out a series of upgrades that proved themselves in the following races in Spain and Canada, and upon which it can now continue to progress.
Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton went so far as to suggest the team had again “got a North Star’ – we know where we’re going, we know how to get there” with regard to development.
The impact of the rediscovery has been impactful, according to Wolff, who said: “We can see the positive dynamic cascading, transcending into the organisation.
“We feel the car is coming together, that our data is yielding results on track, and we haven’t felt that for a long time.
“This obviously contributes to this place being in a very good place now.”
Wolff, however, concedes to being “carefully optimistic”, wary of the fact that whilst there is “an upward trend”, final practice for the Canadian GP highlighted the car’s vulnerability due to the fact that a lack of temperature in the tyres led to the W14 ‘falling off a cliff’.
Hamilton bounced back on Sunday to score a third-place finish, 14 seconds behind race-winner Max Verstappen in his Red Bull, halving the gap compared to a fortnight previously in Spain where the 38-year-old Briton was runner-up to the Dutchman.
How far Mercedes can push Red Bull over the remainder of the season remains to be seen, particularly as it will have one eye on next year and be looking to come flying out of the traps.
Naturally, this is all with one eye on the cost cap and ensuring it brings in its development on budget.
“We have set up a huge organisation in our financial department of 46 people that monitor the cost cap down to the last screw, and looks at the trend of our spend during all of the year,” said Wolff.
“What we’ve done is basically allocated resources to various projects. We stayed below that line all year last year, and we’re still below that line this year.
“And that is considering a normal, let’s say, development switch for next year, and this is still pretty much on track.
“The good thing is we are constantly learning about what the car is doing. There are going to be some fundamental design changes for next year.
“But it’s not that we are building stuff. It’s more like what are we simulating, but that is not measured in either money, teraflops, or wind tunnel runs.”
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