The 2023 F1 season has been all about Red Bull’s dominance so far. With Max Verstappen picking up six wins and Sergio Perez capitalizing on the rest two, the defending champions have pocketed all eight victories so far. And in a time like this, Toto Wolff has the ultimate prediction for Mercedes.
Wolff and his team have been showing slow but steady growth of late. After deciding to continue with their flopped zero sidepod design, the Silver Arrows recently shifted to a Red Bull-like sidepod.
This change midway through the season has worked right for the German team so far as they picked three podiums in the last two races recently. At the Spanish GP, Hamilton and Russell finished at P2 and P3, respectively. Hamilton carried the same momentum at the Canadian GP, which saw him finish behind Max Verstappen and Alonso at P3.
With some more upgrades and advancements on the way, the Brackley-based team is looking forward to the track with records, believing they can do the unusual and claim victory.
Toto Wolff believes in Mercedes’ win
As the race in Canada was concluded with Hamilton picking up back-to-back podiums, Wolff was asked about the track where the Silver Arrows can finally threaten Red Bull for a win.
According to Naca on Twitter, Tom Kristensen asked Toto, “If I say you are going to win a race this season, what track will that be at?”
Celebrating together as a Team. 🫶 Montréal, you were mega. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/xXoXzh9XBZ
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) June 19, 2023
Answering this, the 51-year-old said, “Silverstone.” Admittedly, the British Grand Prix is the home race for Mercedes and this is a track where Hamilton had the maximum success in his career. The 38-year-old has a maximum of eight victories at Silverstone, the same as the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Along with the British driver, the team from Silverstone also had their fair share of success at this track. It is expected that even if they fail to pull up a fascinating win on this track, we might see them challenge Red Bull for a victory.
Mercedes and their improvement
The Silver Arrows have been quite impactful in the last few races. After the series of upgrades they brought in Monaco, the trajectory has been nothing but upward as seen in Barcelona and Montreal.
From replacing Aston Martin at P2 in the Constructors championship to Hamilton charging behind Alonso, things are looking right for the team as a whole. Notably, tracks that don’t suit them ideally have also handed the team a podium this season.
All in all, Silverstone is definitely a track that suits Mercedes and their challenger, and hence the Brackley-based team along with Lewis Hamilton might pull off their first victory of the season.
