Wolff Admits 'Tricky' Situation: Mercedes Wasn't Expecting This Kind Of Scenario

Tuesday, 30 January 2024 at 19:00

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Toto Wolff explained how Mercedes found themselves in a tricky situation after the new situation didn't match their expectations.

Mercedes' team dominated F1 from the season 2014 until 2021. The team won eight consecutive Constructors Championships and seven consecutive Drivers' Championships.

However, it was only a question of time before one of their main rivals - Red Bull or Ferrari would challenge them for the Championship. Toto Wolff who recently extended his contract with Silver Arrows, told motorsport.com:

"We knew that the day would come where it's going to get more tricky. But it wasn't as we expected because the kind of scenario we had in mind was, 'it's tough to win a championship, we're winning races, but we know where we are lacking performance.'"

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What Wolff and his team expected is something like the season 2021, where Mercedes won the Constructors' Championship, but it was in a close battle with Red Bull, and Max Verstappen snatched the Drivers' Championship away from them by a few points.

However, at the beginning of 2022, Silver Arrows found themselves in completely uncompetitive shape. Over the course of the next 44 races, the team managed to win only one.

"And suddenly all of that wasn't the case. Then you have false dawns and managing your expectations. It's very tricky to keep the positiveness in our daily interpersonal dynamic."

Wolff's role in the team is to keep everyone motivated and performing at the top of their game. That has become much more challenging during the previous two years. On the other hand, the team principal highlighted the strengths of his team as he added:

"It was not always straightforward, but I think this is where the strength of the team is. We know each other so well that we can kind of live with each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Each of us, in a way, carried the baton at a certain stage."