Toto Wolff sets the tone for Mercedes’ 2024 season

The German team has been struggling since the new regulations for single-seaters in 2022.

The penultimate season was saved by George Russell’s late but highly important success in Brazil. However, this victory did not make up for Mercedes’ failed gamble, being the only team with a radically different concept from the others, without sidepods, which ultimately proved to be ineffective. The 2022 season ended with a third place in the constructors’ championship, something that hadn’t happened since 2012, the season before the hybrid era.

In 2023, despite Lewis Hamilton’s repeated complaints, Mercedes and Toto Wolff did not drastically change the philosophy of the car: the result is known, no victories but a second place in the championship. A fragile result, obtained by a narrow margin of only 3 points ahead of Ferrari, who made a strong comeback in the last races of the season.

Toto Wolff does not hide past mistakes but promises an evolution this year: “I think we interpreted the regulations, as formulated a few years ago, in a very conservative way,” he explains to The Telegraph. “We have seen other teams do things differently. So keep an eye on the track. I think it’s going to be very different.”

The car looks like a car for the first time in two years…

The positive feedback from Anthony Davidson, after trying out the new car on the simulator, is encouraging for Mercedes. Just before the interview granted to the media across the Channel, Toto Wolff had him on the phone and the Briton allegedly stated: “The car feels like a car for the first time in two years…” That says it all… even though the Austrian team principal remains cautious: “Obviously, I would love for that to be correlated with the track, but we have seen in the past two years that it wasn’t always the case.”

He does not hide that the gap between Red Bull and the other teams is gigantic. When asked about a possible fight for the title, Toto Wolff responds: “You cannot start the season with an attitude like ‘It’s not going to be possible.’ We saw last year with McLaren what a big step they made with just one upgrade. We have signed a two-year contract with Lewis, and we owe it to him, George, and the whole team to give it our full attention in 2024 and 2025. I think it’s possible.”

Mercedes cannot wait until 2026 and the new regulations to regain victory if they want to keep Lewis Hamilton beyond 2025. It will be interesting to follow the team’s progress, starting from the winter tests in Bahrain in mid-February.