Toto Wolff endured yet another difficult season as Mercedes struggled to bridge the gap with Red Bull and just about managed to hold on to P2 in the championship. Now, Wolff comes forward to label his plans for the upcoming campaign, and they are lofty, to say the least.
Wolff, said in an interview with Sky Sports F1, “At the moment we’re battling for second, and this time we won it, but the aim is that we can race for championship.”
2023 saw Mercedes finish P2 with 409 points. They finished just three points ahead of Ferrari in P3. They got an extra $9 million for finishing ahead of Ferrari but Lewis Hamilton and George Russell failed to win a single race throughout the campaign.
However, Wolff’s team is taking measures to go right at Red Bull for the championship battle. As it stands, the gap between them is huge and Wolff knows that is a difficult mountain to climb.
How is Toto Wolff aiming to close the Red Bull gap?
After the introduction of new regulations in 2022, Mercedes faced several technical issues. Porpoising handicapped them for most of 2022, and the team had to take significant measures to tackle it which halted their development.
Then came the zero sidepod concept, which was initially thought to be very innovative. In the end, it was another wrong route the engineers at Brackley took. Now, they are bringing in a completely new concept, which could still not be enough to win races.
Red Bull did not upgrade the RB-19 much after the summer break this season. This shows the massive developmental advantage they already have.
Even F1 experts and fans believe that the Milton-Keynes-based outfit has an advantage already. Therefore, it will not be easy to hunt Red Bull down in 2024 and Toto Wolff could have to wait a couple more years before he can take his shot.
