Wolff Discloses Key Area Mercedes Has Been Focusing On Since Australia
F1
The team principal of Mercedes, Toto Wolff, revealed one specific area that his team has been focusing on since the last race in Australia.
This week, Formula 1 is coming to one of the iconic tracks —Suzuka Circuit—for the Japanese Grand Prix (which was moved to the beginning of the F1 calendar after 2023).
Mercedes comes to this fourth round of the 2024 season with hopes of improvement after the disappointing first three races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Australia.
Silver Arrows have only shown big potential in practice sessions, and the German team's goal is to fix this issue. Their cars' pace has seemingly disappeared ahead of every qualifying and race so far. In a preview of the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix weekend, Toto Wolff said:
"It's good to get back racing in Japan this weekend, after a difficult weekend in Australia. The car has shown strong performance on occasion this year, but we have struggled to deliver this at the critical moments."
Everyone within Mercedes still acts like they were convinced that their car has the potential to compete with the best on the grid; it just hasn't been unlocked yet. Wolff revealed the area his team focused on during the last two weeks.
"Since Melbourne, we have been focused on improving the consistency of the W15. Suzuka is famous for its mix of famous fast sweeps and low-speed corners."
"The elevation changes will provide a very different challenge to the circuits we have raced at so far. It is a good opportunity to build on our learnings and analyse the work that has been undertaken since Australia."
Two former F1 drivers, Martin Brundle and Damon Hill, agreed that Mercedes cars looked very difficult to drive during the season's first three races.
Mercedes drivers are not scoring big at the moment, and many fans blame them, but the problem might be hidden in the car on which their team has been working intensely since the last race.
Mercedes should bring their first upgrade of the season to Japan. However, this is supposed to be a minor upgrade that isn't expected to make big of a big difference. Wolff added:
"The atmosphere at Suzuka is always fantastic. I'm sure this weekend will be no different."
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