Mercedes have again had a difficult start to another campaign. The team back in Brackley introduced a car with a major overhaul for 2024. Despite doing so, the Silver Arrows are nowhere close to being in a position to win races. In fact, the team has had the worst start to a championship season in over a decade. This scenario, among a few others, is invoking pity in Ralf Schumacher for Toto Wolff.
Another scenario is the embarrassment stemming from Mercedes’ customer teams performing better than the Silver Arrows. Fitted with a Mercedes engine, the McLaren MCL60 is miles ahead of the W15 at the moment.
The Woking outfit has scored more than double the Brackley outfit’s current points tally in the overall standings. Aston Martin, another customer team of Mercedes, is also right on their tails as they trail the Silver Arrows by a single point.
Because of the struggles Wolff is currently facing, Schumacher said as quoted by Motorsport-Total, “I would say that Toto Wolff’s situation is extremely precarious and difficult. Toto is fundamentally not used to losing. That’s logical, he was always on the road to success and left everyone behind. This is a new situation.”
Wolff is currently facing several struggles at Mercedes. Not only are the customer teams performing better than the Brackley-based outfit at the moment but the Austrian also is responsible for finding a replacement for Lewis Hamilton in 2025. Since Mercedes have not tasted success for a while, Wolff is desperate to get them back to winning ways.
Toto Wolff explains why Mercedes are struggling currently
In another interview, Toto Wolff explained how he is open to receiving new ideas and suggestions that could help turn the fortunes of Mercedes around. According to the Austrian, the team is currently facing a complex physics challenge rather than a “philosophical or organizational problem“.
Since there have not been any significant changes in their workforce, Wolff believes that his side are just struggling to find the right balance of the car. However, in order to address these concerns, Wolff has revealed that he is ready to put in more efforts to turn things around.
In conclusion, Wolff explained how he does not have a choice but to stay put because of his role in the Mercedes F1 team. The 52-year-old said that since he is not an employee, but has a 33% stake in the team, he cannot leave the team and join a rival.
