Wolff assesses the Red Bull dip: "It collapsed"
F1 News
Formula 1 in 2024 is starting to become as unpredictable as 2026 will be when the new rules and regulations hit the sport. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff sees that. The Austrian did not expect Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing to lose the momentum of 2023, so quickly. But Wolff warns not to write them off.
Wolff sees McLaren leapfrog Mercedes
Last season, Piastri did not even get through Q1 in the first race. But after several upgrades in Austria 2023, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's team have worked their way to the front of the grid. They are now leading the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship. Wolff is left scratching his head at this sudden development, which has seen the team leapfrog Mercedes.
"It's so difficult to correlate and find out what is it really that caused this swing of performance. Because you don't only see them from season to season. In Austria they suddenly became so competitive whilst not having that on the radar themselves. They thought about two and a half tenths upgrade; it was a second, and they continued the trajectory. The car is in a sweet spot, and they've taken the right decisions since then, and today it’s the quickest car," Wolff said in conversation with GPblog and others.
Wolff predicted another season of Verstappen dominance
The 2024 Formula 1 season has drastically changed. From 2014 to 2021, Mercedes were the benchmark. Red Bull took over that baton, but now McLaren are regularly competing for pole positions, and race wins. Even Wolff did not see this coming. "And then you see those swings in performance from Ferrari, you've seen at the beginning of the year, one would have said it's another Verstappen Red Bull runaway championship. It collapsed. But never write them off," Wolff added.
This article has been created in collaboration with Jeroen Immink
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