Wolff compares steps forward with another team: 'So it can be done'

McLaren's team took a big step forward with new updates midway through the 2023 season. This season too, the British team has made strides and can actually compete consistently at the front. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff therefore compares his team's steps to the path McLaren is on.

Unlike McLaren, Mercedes is not yet ready to fight for wins and pole positions everywhere. In Canada, George Russell took pole position, with a time as fast as Max Verstappen. In Austria, the Silver Arrows could not quite compete at the front. Nevertheless, due to the incident between Verstappen and Lando Norris, Russell still managed to win the race.

Wolff happy but realistic about Mercedes updates

Pole position at Silverstone came very unexpectedly for Toto Wolff. "We didn't expect that," he told Viaplay. ''We saw we got quicker and quicker over the last few races, but even throughout qualifying, it didn't look like we would be able to do this. I guess we put it all together and got the tyres in a sweet spot. So this is an honest front row."

The Austrian compares his team's strides to McLaren's. That showed how quickly a team can move forward. ''You've seen that in these regulations with McLaren last year, that they made this step also pretty quickly in the second half of the year. So, I guess the moment things start to make sense and correlate with the track, and which direction you've developed, then it can go pretty quickly. And I think this is a little bit of the spot that we hit,'' Wolff concluded.

The team boss remains realistic, though. After all, the world of Formula 1 is changing rapidly and it is not a given that the team will continue to make strides. ''I would very much hope, but, you know, the progression is never linear. As long as we can keep the trajectory upward, that would be good.'' Wolff said.

This article was written in collaboration with Sophia Crothall.