Wolff pessimistic about Mercedes' chances in Brazil: "It will be difficult"
F1 News
Toto Wolff says Mercedes will find it "difficult" to challenge the front of the grid at the Brazilian Grand Prix. The German team have been a step behind McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull throughout the 2024 season, and since coming back from the month-long autumn break, that gap was as large as every, with Mercedes' consistency still a major issue.
At last week's Mexican Grand Prix, both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were nearly half a minute off the pace of Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc at the front, highlighting the difference in pace between the front of the grid and the W15 car.
The lack of consistency has also been a major issue for the German team, and that hit them once again at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit. After showing some promising pace in both FP1 and FP3, there were little to no changes made to the W15, but come qualifying time, there was a significant drop off in performance, meaning they were resigned to P5 and P6 on the grid, respectively for Russell and Hamilton
Wolff knows recent performances 'have not been the cleanest'
Previewing the penultimate sprint weekend of the 2024 season at Interlagos, Wolff admitted to some lacklustre performances since returning from the autumn break: "The past two races in Austin and Mexico City have not been our cleanest so we are aiming for a smoother weekend at Interlagos. Despite the challenges in the US and Mexico, we have furthered our learning with the W15. Whilst we are still focused on maximising our results each and every weekend, testing and learning will be valuable in setting us up strongly for 2025. We will continue that approach this weekend in Brazil."
So with one eye set on testing and data collecting for next season, will we see any improvement in closing the gap to the front of the grid? "We know it will be difficult to challenge the Ferraris and the McLarens who have looked strong in recent races. We will still be working hard to do so though, and will see where our relative performance is over the weekend," Wolff concluded.
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