Wolff: Mercedes have “reinvented themselves” every year
F1 News
- Bevan Youl
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has said that they have “reinvented themselves” every year despite their dominant success, allowing for “no sense of entitlement” when the next season comes around.
Since the hybrid era began in 2014 Mercedes established themselves as the team to beat having claimed their six straight constructors and drivers titles in 2019.
The Silver Arrows’ success of recent times has seen them match Ferrari’s dominant record that saw them win six constructors titles straight between 1999-2004 while becoming the first for a driver to win six in a row through Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
Wolff says they started to gain confidence after winning their first title in 2014 but wanted sustainability to reproduce the same results.
“We started to gain confidence that we wanted to win the championship,” said Wolff as quoted by MotorsportWeek.
“We won the first championship and we wanted to repeat it and show it was sustainable.
“Every year we have reinvented ourselves without forgetting what made us strong, but equally being very self-critical.
“We have a structure that is very strong from the first line of attack, the drivers, all the way down to the organisation.
“It’s an alignment of many individuals on a journey together, but equally you have to have no sense of entitlement for what you have achieved. The points go back to zero.”
2019 became a tough year for the team in the second half of the season through Ferrari’s resurgence, but the loss of Niki Lauda in May made for a difficult season for everyone.
“We had a tough year this year [and] this is the challenge, overcoming those difficult days, and overcoming those difficult moments, is what makes it so special,” Wolff added.