The race in Imola saw Mercedes take a small step in the positive direction with their car’s development. Mostly facing a tough time since the onset of the 2022 season, the Silver Arrows were able to showcase good pace and hope to continue building on the same. Addressing the progress, James Allison revealed how the team has been on a “war footing” to improve its pace.
Speaking in the race debrief on the official YouTube channel of Mercedes, Allison explained the ideology behind their upgrade in Imola. Per the Technical Director, the upgrade was supposed to arrive as one big shipment.
However, they decided to bring it in two parts, so they could get their hands on the parts that were complete. Thus, the team is aggressively pushing to achieve a resurgence as soon as possible.
“It certainly has been a push. The factory is really on a war footing at the moment.”, Allison said.
Allison further revealed that his team’s current challenge is to keep the momentum going. He said that more upgrades will be coming to the W15 in Monaco, Canada, and the following races. However, the recent positive trajectory doesn’t put a smile on Toto Wolff’s face.
Toto Wolff not happy with the performance of Mercedes in Imola
Despite securing a strong P6 and P7, Toto Wolff was far from impressed with his team’s outing. While both his drivers outperformed Sergio Perez, they couldn’t catch the rest of the crowd.
All four of the McLaren and Ferrari drivers finished ahead of Mercedes, much to the annoyance of Wolff. As such, the Austrian team principal did not hold back when assessing his team’s performance.
PERFORMANCE UPGRADES – IMOLA GP
Aston Martin: 15 (+9)
Ferrari: 9 (+7)
Haas: 9 (+3)
McLaren: 9
RB: 7
Red Bull: 7 (+4)
Alpine: 7 (+1)
Mercedes: 6 (+2)
⚠️Williams: 4
⚠️Kick Sauber: 4 (+1) pic.twitter.com/CZledQnl2d— Holiness (@F1BigData) May 17, 2024
Quoted by GP Fans, Wolff claimed that the steps they took forward were not visible in the race results. P6 and P7 is not where Mercedes want their car to be. Additionally, being 30+ seconds behind the “quickest guys” is also nothing to be proud of for the Silver Arrows.
Pointing out the frustration in his voice, Wolff said that more upgrades were coming Mercedes’ way. Hence, the improvements will be marginal and incremental because that is how the sport goes.
