It's a season of ups and downs for many teams. There are tracks where certain cars adapt better than others, modifying the hierarchies about which there is less and less certainty. It is the case of the Mercedes. The Brackley team is back from a super particular year: the start to forget with the W-14 which was so reminiscent of the W-13 of last season, passing through the updates seen at Barcelona and those moments of joy – like the double podium at Montmelò – shared by a car that in Austria was, as stated above all by Lewis Hamilton, very “bad”.
Mercedes, so many ups and downs!
Pools Wolff, after all, he had said it: to get back up and get back to the top, it will take quite some time. The new W-14 has undoubtedly brought positive results, and the performance of the two drivers in the race - just look at the race pace they had at Silverstone – is proof of this. However, there was no shortage of performances low level, as in Austria, where Mercedes placed itself as the fourth force on the track.
Wolff is already going hard: "We're not interested in finishing second or third"
As is right, when we head towards the summer break, many teams are already starting to plan the new car in view of next season. On the subject, based on what Wolff told Motorsport.com Italy, it seems that soon the star's team will also decide whether to always follow the path of the W14, or change course completely: "I think we will make a decision on this very soon, we have no choice. Finish second or third Wolff admitted. it has no impact on me, nor on the team. The important thing is to come back and be able to win a world title. This year it won't be like that. So we already have to look to next year and then, in all the races to come, learn and develop, making sure we can carry this work forward next year too. Having said that, however, the regulations will be the same next season too. So it's not that you won't learn anything by continuing with this car this season. We have to find a balance."
“The budget cap annoys us quite a bit”
Mercedes' goal, as always, is to try to grow more and more, even if according to Wolff the budget cap will be a big problem: “I think we are limited by the budget cap and the relatively lower amount of wind tunnel and CFD time that McLaren has been able to have. They ranked further back in the championship and halfway through the year they were like fifth, sixth. So they brought with them that greater number of wind tunnel hours. That's why it's more difficult for us. I don't think there will be updates that will radically change the car yet. But we still have small steps to take. And we also saw that if you find 2-3 tenths of performance, your position can be different on the grid."
STATEMENT SOURCE: Motorsport.com Italy
