Mercedes came to Japan with the hope that they will be able to redeem themselves after what was a forgetful and disastrous race in Australia. However, things did not go to script for the Silver Arrows, as they got another disappointing result at Suzuka. Both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were not able to challenge for the top five, let alone the podium. Regardless, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff feels that this race in Japan has given them good insights to move ahead and progress, as he looks forward to the next race in China.
As quoted by user Deni on Twitter (now X), Wolff stated how the team got a “much better [understanding of the car], definitely much better, lots more data that point us in the right direction”, even if their result does not reflect that. Perhaps, the 52-year-old is looking for a long-term gain in performance that may show up immediately after whatever Mercedes have tried in Australia and Japan.
“I can’t wait to go racing in Shanghai, we just need a better start to the weekend and see what we can do with the car”, Wolff added.
Mercedes were in a confused state again at the start of the Japanese GP. However, their drivers did feel that the car gave them a good feeling after qualifying on Saturday.
Although both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton felt so, their qualifying positions were not reflective of their optimism. Hamilton only managed to qualify P7 while Russell qualified P9. The two Mercedes drivers then also struggled massively during the race and could barely challenge any of the top five drivers.
Hamilton finished the race in ninth, while Russell finished in a decent P7 after his late pass on Oscar Piastri. However, since their performances were below their expectations, both drivers expressed their discontent after the race.
According to Formula1.com, Hamilton cited how he faced issues after getting some damage in the initial stint and the car was “never what he hoped it would be”. Meanwhile, Russell acknowledged that they have “work to do” with the W15.
Toto Wolff and Co. once again find themselves at a difficult crossroad
One would expect Toto Wolff to keep the optimism going as the leader of Mercedes even if his side find themselves at a similar crossroad as they did in the past two seasons. During both 2022 and 2023, Mercedes stuck to their indigenous design concepts and did not necessarily make any inroads in terms of gaining good performance relative to Red Bull.
Although Lewis Hamilton mentioned that the car felt the “nicest” in three years after his qualifying in Suzuka, the W15 still is not able to be a car that the drivers can rely upon and the team can upgrade to become a regular podium challenger. Despite the concept overhaul in 2024, Mercedes are not able to understand how they could nail the development direction of the W15 and gain performance.
In Japan, the team again looked a bit lost as they were trying to maximize their strategy and outfox rivals to gain track positions. However, despite hedging strategies between Hamilton and Russell, the Silver Arrows could not make a big impact in Suzuka.
Coming off from a double DNF in Melbourne, Hamilton was happy that they at least finished the race at Suzuka. However, that still did not satisfy him from a performance standpoint, as he cited how they are “seventh, eighth, ninth fastest, so… yeah”.
