After a poor couple of seasons that saw Mercedes land only one race victory, the team is determined to get back to winning ways in the 2024 season. Since the onset of the latest regulations, the Silver Arrows have had to overcome great struggles to be in the running for a top-two finish in the Constructor’s Championship. However, F1 Expert Ralf Schumacher believes it won’t be an easy task. In the process of giving his reasons, the former German driver also pointed out the shortcomings of Toto Wolff.
Speaking about a seemingly troubled Mercedes camp, Schumacher claimed the team was a “surprise bag.” Talking further about the team’s boss, Motorsport-Total quoted the German as he mentioned that the team wasn’t falling completely apart but felt that it lacked a leader.
“For me, we always have a bored or perplexed Toto Wolff in our interviews, who has sometimes made a distant impression lately“, explained Schumacher.
Schumacher also addressed the relationship of the current Mercedes drivers and stated that he believes that the two do not see eye to eye. There have been various incidents involving Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, where the two behaved more like rivals than teammates.
Hence, Schumacher believes Mercedes first needs to address the intra-team issues before they can once again challenge for the top spot in the sport.
Mercedes might still have a long way to go to return to the top
Heading into the final race of the season, Mercedes (P2) holds a slender lead of four points over Ferrari (P3). As such, there is plenty left to fight for once racing begins in Abu Dhabi. Should the Silver Arrows secure P2, they will head into the next season with much more confidence, which is necessary in view of their plans for 2024.
Despite Lewis Hamilton starting to enjoy the new-gen Mercedes car, the Briton still feels his team is not ready to compete for the title. According to the 38-year-old, the car lacks the fundamentals to become a winning car, and they will have to make drastic changes to it.
Nico Rosberg predicts that Lewis Hamilton will fight for the world championship in 2024:
“There’s a good chance that Hamilton will be fighting for the world title next year.”
“They’re starting to understand how the car works, yes, they’re still inconsistent, but they’re slowly… pic.twitter.com/OZUqxcTdcL
— Mercedes-AMG F1 News (@MercedesNewsUK) November 22, 2023
Meanwhile, Schumacher firmly believes Ferrari is in much better shape than Mercedes, especially under Fred Vasseur. He claimed that the next year would be about Ferrari’s resurgence instead of Mercedes’, clearly showcasing his certainty in the Italian outfit’s program while displaying skepticism about the Silver Arrow’s program.
