Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is refusing to give up on the current F1 season but has conceded “a lot of changes” are required for the 2024 car.
Just weeks after appearing to emerge from the shadows of Red Bull’s dominance with an upgraded W14 following a change of direction in development, Mercedes again finds itself playing a second-fiddle role to its major rival.
That was evident over the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend as the hope generated by Lewis Hamilton’s first pole position for 19 months evaporated in the heat of a scorching afternoon at the Hungaroring as Max Verstappen left the field trailing.
Once Verstappen threaded his way through Hamilton’s defence on the initial run down to Turn 1, there was no stopping the two-time champion, leaving Hamilton to trail home fourth, a staggering 39 seconds adrift, with McLaren’s Lando Norris and the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez also ahead of him.
“When you look at the outcome at the end, I don’t think it was so bad,” said Wolff, trying to draw a positive.
“We were four seconds behind Lando, two seconds behind Perez, so that wouldn’t be the shocker, it’s just that the gap to Max is just huge.”
Asked by Speedcafe whether it was now time to turn to 2024, Wolff replied: “I wouldn’t want to give up any season.
“You can see how McLaren has leapfrogged everybody else with an update they didn’t expect to be that powerful. Whatever it was, they’ve gained a second probably.
“They’re ahead of Aston Martin and Ferrari, who were really strong contenders at the beginning of the season, and now they’re nowhere.
“So we just need to continue working, chipping away at our understanding and unlocking the potential in the car, as Aston Martin did over the winter, and McLaren during the season. We won’t give up.”
With its development of the current car constrained by the budget cap and what remains in the pot for this season, it is a question of whether Mercedes feels there is remaining potential in the W14, or whether the W15 will be something different again.
“We need a lot of changes for 2024,” said the Mercedes boss.
“The direction our team is developing is really quite interesting. We see opportunities and we’re not shying away of leaving no stone unturned and looking at every single concept.
“And every single concept that we’ve seen on the other cars, whether it’s powerful or not, whether it’s of any use, we’re not letting ourselves be distracted from the way we operate, the way we analyse.”
For now, Wolff is having to watch his bitter adversary Red Bull cruise to another constructors’ and drivers’ championship double.
Unlike Red Bull boss Christian Horner, though, who bemoaned Mercedes’ dominance following the introduction of new engine rules in 2014, and called for regulation changes on numerous occasions, Wolff is more pragmatic with the current situation.
“Why I love this sport is that it is meritocratic, and entertainment before sport, not the other way around,” said Wolff.
“We can’t create a balance of performance or anything that would level out the field. It is what it is.
“We had the years with Mercedes where we finished one and two every single race, and that was certainly not great for entertainment purposes.
“That’s why we just need to work better, and get ourselves back into contention because there will be many fans who will be frustrated, thinking we were really close (after qualifying) and keen on watching what happens, only to then see one car disappearing into the sunset.”
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