Toto Wolff has admitted that Mercedes is missing guidance from former non-executive chairman Niki Lauda, while they search for answers on how to improve the performance of the W14. Mercedes has been left playing catch up again at the start of 2023, following a tough first couple of races. Lauda was a key member of the team during their dominant days up until his death in 2019, and Wolff has outlined why his absence is being noticed amid their ongoing struggles. "Niki’s missed all those years because Niki always simplified things to really what mattered," said Wolff to media, including RacingNews365.com . "I'm having to think what would he have said, and how would he have positioned and the two of us worked well together in that sense that sometimes oversimplification can lead you straight to the results but there are lots of nuances. "This is a technical sport so maybe my role was to translate it in a way that we actually were able to execute it in the car design. "But this is very simple: the stopwatch never lies, and we see on the data where we are missing and that needs to be corrected."
Wolff: Wouldn't wish for better support from shareholders
Wolff claims that the team has the full support of the board during this run of poor performance for the team, as they look to improve their chances with upgrades in the next few opening rounds of the year. "The people in charge in Mercedes and in INEOS, they are high performance individuals," he explained, when asked by RacingNews365.com . "Even before business or in sports, we have all been through up and downs and there is so much support from them in order to get us back on track. "I couldn't wish for neither Jim [Ratcliffe] nor Ola [Källenius], or all the others that are associated with this, to wish for better support."
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