Mercedes in the 2023 season had an underwhelming start to the season after their woeful performance in Bahrain. Though, Mercedes has improved itself from its worst produced car in the turbo-hybrid era—W13. However, it felt short against their rivals Ferrari, Red Bull and even Aston Martin.
This situation has led to Toto Wolff for making fixes in his team. Reportedly the biggest victim of Wolff’s wrath is going to be the technical director Mike Elliott, under whose charge, Mercedes saw back to back poor seasons.
That has forced Wolff to seek the services of the former technical director James Allison, who has reported to Brackley promptly while he was at the services of INEOS UK’s sailing team. The former Mercedes engineer would be implementing his upgrades in Imola.
But Wolff had other options. Ferraris former technical director and team principal Mattia Binotto is on the gardening leave after his firing, but soon would be available in the market. But despite at their worst, Wolff will not go for the Italian engineer.
It wouldn’t be F1 without some drama 👀👀 Team Mercedes 🖤#DriveToSurvive5 #DriveToSurvive #f1 #LH44 #mercedesf1 pic.twitter.com/BBoEuO0nO1
— Kiera❤️ (@kieraneha) February 25, 2023
Also read: Aston Martin Boss Fires Two-Weeks Ultimatum After Fernando Alonso Raised Their Hype for 2023 Season
Toto Wolff reveals why he won’t go for Mattia Binotto
Binotto and Wolff became arch-rivals when the former Ferrari man took the reigns of the most successful team. And obviously the two had several stand-offs. That’s why Wolff reveals that their has been too much of bad blood between them that it would be wrong to hire him.
“No. I think there was too much porcelain broken between us over the last few years, that this would be possible,” said Wolff on Beyond the Grid. Though, Wolff reveals things between them improved in 2022, but it won’t result in Binotto’s appointment.
Binotto joined Ferrari around Michael Schumacher’s entry in the team. Since then the Ferrari man raised himself through the engineering ranks in the team, and went on to lead the Prancing horses until his sacking after the 2022 season.
📷 | An old picture of the boss, Mattia Binotto, with the 🐐 Michael Schumacher 😍#essereFerrari 🔴🐎 pic.twitter.com/gKjhpe3XIV
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) April 1, 2022
The championship is over
After Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished P5 and P7 respectively, it was apparent Mercedes is at the deficit in the championship fight. But soon Wolff admitted that they don’t see themselves challenging for the championship.
Instead, they are planning to take a step back and plan for the upcoming years. Though, they would definitely be interested in overcoming the challenge coming from Aston Martin.
Nevertheless, the current state at Mercedes do indicate that the team needs to go through a rebuild. Meanwhile, Red Bull looks clear favorites to win this season’s championship fight.
Also read: Red Bull Chief Says Max Verstappen’s Dominance in 2023 Will Melt Away Once FIA Penalty Makes Its Hit
