F1 News
Are internal problems turning Red Bull's neck? This is what Toto Wolff expects
- Ludo van Denderen
No one can consistently challenge Red Bull Racing for a third consecutive season. The Austrian team started 2024 as 2023 ended: with victories. Given the balance of power at the Grands Prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, no other F1 team seems to pose a danger to Red Bull in the short term. With internal conflicts, the biggest chance of implosion appears to come from within Red Bull Racing itself.
Mercedes see the situation unfolding at Red Bull. Should Max Verstappen decide he would prefer to work elsewhere, the German team will welcome him with open arms, Toto Wolff revealed in Jeddah. The Mercedes CEO and team boss was also asked what he thinks about Red Bull appearing to self-destruct.
"Well, at the moment, it doesn't look like they are pushing that [self-distruct] button because they're finished first and second and into the distance," Wolff responded. "But these things can have a lag. But I think we need to concentrate on ourselves. What is it we need to do to give our drivers the best possible car? Because it's not the drivers that are the problem, it's our machine that doesn't perform like we believe it should."
Wolff expects Mercedes to improve (again)
In the past two seasons, Wolff was confident that Mercedes would get stronger during the season. That hasn't really materialised. Now too, Wolff expresses his confidence that Mercedes will make steps forward. "It's a different confidence that I have in the group this time around, because at a certain stage, you're basically ticking all the boxes of the unknown," he said.
"Where we are today, it's pretty clear where it points to and I just have it. It's just my feeling that we will come on top. Is this good enough to beat Max in a Red Bull? No, it's not. But at least bringing ourselves back in a position of fighting for podiums and being right there. 100% sure we're going to get there."