Toto Wolff Denies Having Mechanical Problem in W14 After Seeing Fernando Alonso Fetching Podium In Bahrain

Sabyasachi Biswas | 10/03/2023
Toto Wolff Denies Having Mechanical Problem in W14 After Seeing Fernando Alonso Fetching Podium In Bahrain

If Bahrain Grand Prix is remembered for seeing Red Bull pick up 1-2 in the opening race of the season, it’s more likely to be remembered for the valiant warrior Fernando Alonso. The man who went from P7 at the very start to finish the race in podium places has given the fans a moment to remember.

However, not everyone wants to remember the tough Sakhir outing, and one such man is Toto Wolff. Wolff, who just stood there and witnessed the fall of W14 against the mighty AMR23, thinks the Brackley car didn’t have any mechanical problem to blame for the poor show. Had that been the case, the Silverstone-based team would’ve also felt the heat.

Talking about this, Wolff shared in a report published by Soy Motor, “We know that we do not have a mechanical problem, otherwise Aston Martin would also suffer.” Admittedly, neither the Aston Martins nor Mercedes uses the same engine and fell prey to any reliability issues during the race.

ALSO READ: ‘We Can Throw Our Car in the Trash Can’: Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff Concedes Defeat After Bahrain GP

Toto Wolff knows Mercedes’ weakness

Interestingly, the Austrian executive knows the weakness the Silver Arrows has. In the report, he opened up on the sector Lewis Hamilton and Co. needs to work to become competitive, at least before taking the fight to Red Bull.

Wolff said, “The point is that we are doing well on the straights, but we lose a lot in the fast corners.” [Translated from Spanish using Google]. This was evident during the race when Alonso caught Hamilton napping at a corner and dived down the inside to overtake him.

Toto Wolff lauds Aston Martin’s effort

Despite losing out to Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll regarding overall speed, the Mercedes boss lauded Aston Martin. The team that finished its 2022 season in P7 managed to raise eyebrows as they locked horns with Red Bull in Free Practices, Ferrari in Qualifying, and in the end, managed to beat Mercedes in the race.

ALSO READ: Toto Wolff Fires Ultimatum at Mike Elliott as James Allison Returns to Improve the W14

Praising the Silverstone-based team, he said, “We can only take our hats off to what they did, they gained two seconds in six months and their car is half ours.”

So much was the improvement that Alonso made sure he gained the places back that he lost when the lights went out and took two more places to snatch the podium in the half Mercedes.

As for Aston Martin as a whole, they went from P12 and P17 in Bahrain 2022, P8 and P10 in Abu Dhabi 2022, to P3 and P6 in Bahrain 2023. Astonishing achievement when it comes to F1 development.

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Fernando Alonso Lance Stroll Lewis Hamilton Toto Wolff

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Sabyasachi Biswas

Sabyasachi Biswas is an F1 journalist at The SportsRush. With over one and a half decades of love for the sport and five years of experience in the field, he dreams to be a regular at the paddock when the lights go out. A Red Bull fan and F1 fan in general over the years, he enjoyed watching Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, and Max Verstappen dominate the track. Apart from F1, he's also a big-time Madridista and Federer fanatic. He was a sub-junior level footballer, won inter-district quizzes and debate competitions back in school. A travel freak throughout, he tries different cuisines and learns new cultures whenever he's away from the keyboard.

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