Mercedes: Positivity "cascading" into F1 team following W14 upgrades
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff sees positivity "cascading" into his Formula 1 team in the wake of rapid progress made since it's W14 upgrades arrived.
Having anticipated a tough challenge at this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, where the long straights and slow corners were not expected to suit the Mercedes package, a fourth and fifth place on the grid - upgraded to third and fourth due to Nico Hulkenberg's penalty - in tricky wet conditions was encouraging.
With Lewis Hamilton having declared ahead of the weekend that Mercedes now had its ‘North Star’ back in terms of a development direction, Wolff concurred that the feeling inside the squad was now transformed.
“I think we can see the positive dynamic which is cascading and transcending into the organisation,” explained Wolff.
“We feel that the car is coming together, and we see that our data yields results on track. We haven't felt that for a long time, and this contributes to being in a good place right now.”
Mechanics in the garage with George Russell, Mercedes F1 W14
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
But Wolff said it was important that Mercedes did not get complacent in thinking that success was now guaranteed, as struggles at certain points of the Montreal weekend had highlighted ongoing deficiencies.
“I think we can be carefully optimistic,” he added. “What we see is an upward trend. But, at the same time, you can see how vulnerable we are. Just look at FP3 where we were not having enough temperature in the tyres, and we fell off a cliff.”
Despite some ongoing question marks, Mercedes is well aware that its car performs better on Sundays in relation to the opposition – which has left Wolff agreeing with his drivers that another double podium finish could be on the cards.
“I think we can be also there,” he said. “We can be satisfied so far. Obviously the two cars, they put two consecutive laps in there at the front. And that's pretty normal.
“I think we've seen in both drivers and especially Lewis in Q2 when he went straight [at the chicane and lost his lap], that would have put him fastest among the inter runners with a very, very competitive time.
“So overall, I think the speed was there considering that this is not a strong circuit for us, and it was raining.”
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