After a fairly average outing over the weekend, the Mercedes duo finished P3 and P5 at Silverstone yesterday. However, the result seems to be a disappointing one for the team. McLaren Lando Norris was able to keep Lewis Hamilton at bay for a decent period after being outpaced by the former. Notably, the team brought a major overhaul into their 2023 W-14 car at Monaco, and followed in Spain and Canada.
After a few promising results, the car performace again started going downhill for the team, which is highly unprecedented for a team like Mercedes. Austrian GP proved to be an abysmal outing for the Silver Arrows as the two drivers could manage a combined fot just 11 points. Currently, the team stands in 2nd place in the constructors’ championship after Red Bull, which Aston close third.
However, at this stage, the serious question in front of Mercedes is to choose between the development of their current car or shift entirely to the 2024 machinery. There are still 11 races left in the season. But as it stands, Red Bull is already too far ahead for anyone to catch them, thus ending the title fight this season. Recently, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff gave his two cents on the same.
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Toto Wolff inclined towards shifting focus of Mercedes towards 2024
Toto Wolff carries an unprecedented record of being the sports’ most fierce and successful manager. The relentless and strong-headed Austrian always does everything in his power to keeo the team at the top. However, the momentum is not coming his way for two seasons now. The team is reportedly too deep into their development budget already, thus creating an imbalance. On all of this, Wolff said that he is inclined towards working on the next years’ car if W-14 behaves the same way.
“P2 or P3 fundamentally doesn’t impact me and the team. It’s about coming back and being able to win a world championship in that respect. That’s not going to happen this year,” said Silver Arrows boss.
“So we need to set our eyes to next year and then, at all the races to come, learn and develop, and make sure that we can carry that forward into next year. But, having said that, the regulations are the same. So it’s not that you’re not learning nothing by continuing this car. It’s a balance that we have to strike right,” added Wolff
Do you see Mercedes challenging Red Bull in the upcoming seaon? Comment Below.
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