General
Mercedes on planning; car for 2021 only ready 48 hours before rollout
- GPblog.com
Toto Wolff expects Red Bull Racing to perform well in 2021. He also says that McLaren may be a serious contender. Wolff also states that Mercedes has a very tight schedule when it comes to developing the car for next season.
"It is important for us to support him as much as possible, with the material, so he can fight for the eighth title," Wolff told RTL of Lewis Hamilton's world titles. Speaking to the German media, he expects Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen to be "certainly strong" in 2021 to counter that. "And with Perez, they have a strong second iron in the fire," he said.
Teams behind Red Bull
Mercedes' eyes are not only on Red Bull this season, however. McLaren finished third in the Constructors' World Championship last year and will be using Mercedes engines in Formula 1 from next season. That would reportedly add between three and five-tenths per lap for the Woking-based team.
"They could cause surprises with Daniel Ricciardo, if they are not upfront anyway," says Wolff, who also has something to say about Aston Martin: "It will be interesting to see how Sebastian Vettel will do there." Ferrari and Alpine have also made "really big steps forward", according to the Austrian team boss.
W12 almost ready?
On Friday, Mercedes released its first teaser about the car that will win another world title in 2021. According to Wolff, it will take some time before the car is ready to go on track. "It's not ready yet by a long shot. At the moment it looks like an empty LEGO box," said the 49-year-old chief. Wolff finally added that the car will only be ready 48 hours before the rollout.