22a250931f52edb7e9d24df08bd82af25e5c4522

Wolff jokes around with Wikipedia comment in America

21:29, 20 Oct 2023

byGPblog.com

By now, Toto Wolff must regret his Wikipedia statement about Max Verstappen. Not for the first time, the comment made by the Mercedes team boss has been part of a joke, but he handled it well.

Formula 1 cars have been running with the hybrid V6 engines since 2014. The US Grand Prix is the 200th race in that era and 112 races in the period were won by Mercedes. A high number. Tom Clarkson mentions some stats about the Mercedes car in the turbo-hybrid era at the press conference in America, to which Wolff asked: "Did you look at Wikipedia?"

Wolff looks back on Mercedes' successes

Wolff has to laugh about it before continuing: "Yes, nobody reads that anyway, but it's good. Thank you for giving me the number 112. I think we had a really good run, thanks to the efforts that were made. Sensational power units straight from the get-go. We were very competitive from 2014 onwards."

"Since then, chassis and power units have never let each other down, maybe besides the 2022 season and so far. But it's a good number. That means a winning rate of more than 50%. But it's become more difficult recently, and that's a challenge we're taking. Let's see if we can add a few more in the current engine regulations."

For the US Grand Prix, Mercedes introduced a new floor which they hope to learn something for 2024. In FP1, things looked especially good for Lewis Hamilton, who finished third in the session behind Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.

"The lap time was competitive, which Lewis was able to post, but it's not like the car is suddenly super fast. In certain areas, he feels more comfortable, and George on the other side, wasn't satisfied with how the car was going for him. But like Mike said, we left a debrief to join you guys here."