Lewis Hamilton and George Russell put in an exceptional performance for Mercedes at the 2023 Spanish GP. By finishing P2 and P3 respectively, Hamilton and Russell guided the team to their first double podium finish of the year. Toto Wolff, however, does not expect them to repeat the same heroics in Canada.
There is no denying that Mercedes’ start to the 2023 season was slow. For a team that was finishing first in almost every race two years ago, settling for points just wasn’t good enough. However, after getting rid of their infamous zero side pod design the W14 showed fans how good it can be. Admittedly, the W14 still wasn’t nearly as fast as Red Bull’s RB19 in Spain, but the gap is considerably less.
Hamilton and Russell were on cloud nine with their performance and Mercedes fans all over the world became hopeful of better things to come. Wolff, meanwhile, doesn’t have high expectations from the team heading into the 2023 Canadian GP.
Barcelona suited Mercedes more than Canada will
Mercedes was initially scheduled to introduce the side pod ditching upgrades in Imola. The race’s cancellation meant that they had to bring them to Monaco, but it wasn’t quite clear how much they had improved in the Principality. In Barcelona, however, they showed the world that they were making big progress.
Wolff, however, feels that the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya’s layout suited their car. He doesn’t expect the same at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. As reported by Race Fans, the 51-year-old said:
“It was a circuit that suited our car, and we should expect our direct competitors to be stronger in the next races. The gap to Red Bull is large and it will take lots of hard work to close that down. Nevertheless, we’re up for the challenge.”
Despite not being optimistic in terms of results, Wolff is confident that they can use their time out on track to gather some valuable data. This will help them improve further, going into the coming races of the season.
Mercedes looking to avoid Lewis Hamilton and George Russell mishap
In Spain, Mercedes’ dream weekend could have turned into a disaster had it not been for Hamilton’s sharp reactions. The two drivers almost collided and took each other out in Q2, due to a communication mishap.
As quoted by Speedcafe, the team’s engineering director Andrew Shovlin said, “We will sit down and look at how we need to change our communication to make sure that we don’t confuse the drivers by not giving them the whole picture.”
Toto Wolff meanwhile, felt that the entire situation was silly, and does not want to see a repeat of this ever again.
