Toto Wolff has warned Mercedes they must not get carried away following their surprise Formula 1 Qualifying result for the Australian Grand Prix. Despite the troubles with the W14 in 2023, Mercedes have shown good pace in Melbourne, qualifying second and third with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. The team have committed to changing their car concept with an upgrade package at Imola, but Wolff is keen for them to be grounded following the result and not lurch into any sudden decisions.
Wolff warns Mercedes
"I think we need to be careful not to oscillate between mania and depression," Wolff explained to media, including RacingNews365 , at Albert Park when asked if the result would affect their car development plans. "We need to keep the thinking rationally, and what we've seen today is that there's a lot of potential in unlocking the car. "It is clear that we need to take the right decisions for the long term, and in that respect, we will continue to race the best possible package we have, whether that has a narrow body or a wide body is irrelevant. "We just need to have more downforce in the sweet spot of the car."
Mercedes need to focus
Having committed to changing the car concept of the W14, Wolff further explained how the swings in performance could affect the team's mindset. "These are exactly the swings that we must avoid because obviously you're delivering such a good qualifying today and it swings into exuberance," he said. "And we're like: 'Okay everything we thought was wrong, and let's continue to develop the car' and then when the next bad result [happens], we think the other way around. "We have never had any ballpark on what the car needs to look like, we know exactly where we got it wrong, we also know that there's some goodness in the car, especially if we do every step over the weekend right and are able to extract what is in the car." Can Mercedes win a race in 2023? Let us know in the comments below and by voting in the poll!
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