McLaren and Aston Martin made major strides this season, having made regular appearances on the podium throughout the season. Now, Gary Anderson as per The Telegraph, reckons that Toto Wolff, the Mercedes boss will take notes from these two teams, to turn his team’s fortunes around in 2024.
Anderson, the former technical director of F1 spoke to The Telegraph about this. He said, “Toto Wolff visits the Aston Martin and McLaren garage almost as often as he goes into his own Mercedes garage. He is not the technical director by any means but he will have his eyes open and he will see what they are up to.”
Just another average day. 📲😂 pic.twitter.com/yj4kB2om8u
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 10, 2023
Mercedes, McLaren, and Aston Martin, all had contrasting experiences in 2023. While Aston Martin was the second-best team after Red Bull in the initial phase of this season, McLaren is the second-best team now with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the top of their game.
As for Mercedes, they weren’t particularly strong when it came to performance, and interestingly, they supply engines and components to these two teams. However, they were consistent. This is the reason why Wolff’s team is in P2 in the Constructors’ championship, whereas McLaren and Aston Martin are in P4 and P5, respectively. Nevertheless, the Silver Arrows seem to be in big trouble and are actively working on turning their fortunes around in the the coming season.
How is Mercedes faces problems in the US?
Following the conclusion of their dominant phase in 2020, Mercedes never performed well in the US. They failed to win in Austin and Miami last year, and that continued this time around too. Hamilton, Russell, and Wolff were all visibly upset by both their American outings so far.
In Miami, they finished the race in P4 and P6. In Austin, Russell managed to finish fifth, but Hamilton had to retire from the race. Also, the upcoming race is expected to get tougher for the Brackley-based team as recent reports points towards tire-wear problems in Las Vegas.
🟢Russell was in front of Norris at the last corner: he lost 3 places in just one straight due to Mercedes’ disastrous top speed!😭😳
🟠McL’s top speed was ok: large improvement compared to the first part of the season📈
🔵RB: low drag despite the ‘Monaco’ wing🚀#F1 #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/5ad6Mgc1i1
— Formula Data Analysis (@FDataAnalysis) November 4, 2023
Mercedes already ditched the zero sidepod concept. Now, they are trying to move to a safe zone from where they can move to a positive trajectory. Even Toto Wolff regrets over believing in the concept after their 2022 Sao Paulo GP win. Wolff, after their performance in Brazil this year, revealed that it was a “one-off” performance and they were at the knife’s edge.
Even Hamilton and Russell agreed that the car was barely drivable as it had issues with balance and degradation. In the end, Russell had a DNF, and Hamilton finished the race in P8 after starting from P5.
All in all, Mercedes are in the fight for P2 with Ferrari, who has a win to boast. As for Mercedes, they are winless for the first time since 2011 and just have 20 point lead over their Italian rivals.
