Mercedes have arguably been the most consistent team for the past decade. They have won eight Constructors’ Championships and had two second-place finishes and a third-place finish. However, the Silver Arrows have not managed to fight for the title in the past two seasons. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff hopes to correct the same. However, he is fearful that Red Bull and Max Verstappen may not let it happen because of their recent domination.
While speaking in a recent interview, Wolff said (as quoted byf1i.com), “We have a board in our factory that shows all the Constructors’ World Championships since 1958. The table goes until 2050 and we have the logos and badges of the different years. There are 27 open with empty badges. I would like to look back in 20 years and say there are many more Mercedes stars“.
Soon after Wolff expressed his dream, he revealed the one main hurdle Mercedes might face. The Austrian explained how the Silver Arrows have never faced a foe as “dominant” as Verstappen. The 51-year-old said that Mercedes have simply not been good enough as the Dutchman managed to win a record 19 out of 22 races in a single campaign.
Toto Wolff annoyed with Mercedes’ struggles in 2023
While Red Bull were flawless this season, the same cannot be said about Mercedes. Although the team from Brackley finished second in the championship, they lost by a staggering margin of 451 points to Red Bull. As a result of the Silver Arrows’ struggles, Toto Wolff was far from happy.
Following Mercedes’ disastrous performance in Sao Paulo earlier this year, Wolff labeled the same as “baffling“. The Austrian stated that he just did not understand why they were so poor during that race. Lewis Hamilton finished the Sao Paulo GP eighth, while George Russell registered a DNF.
Since Mercedes struggled massively in 2023, they are now adopting a new concept for their W15. Even though Wolff is hopeful that the W15 should be much stronger than the W14, only time will tell.
The next step for Mercedes in 2024 will be to win a race as they have failed to do so since 2021. Once they achieve this goal, the Silver Arrows can then think about fighting for the championship. Until then, Red Bull are likely to be the favorites until and unless another team can step up next season.
