Toto Wolff has jokingly revealed the "special place" that the W13 will take in Mercedes' collection of F1 cars. After winning eight consecutive Constructors' Championships up to and including the 2021 season, the team faced a more challenging campaign in 2022 and eventually finished P3 behind runaway winners Red Bull and second-placed Ferrari. The W13 was affected by issues such as porpoising, and ultimately proved a much more troublesome vehicle for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell than its predecessors. Hamilton has quipped that he will not be requesting ownership of this particular car, and Wolff acknowledges that it may not exactly take pride of place in Mercedes' line-up of Formula 1 challengers.
Wolff reveals 'special place' for W13
"I think this car will always have a special place in our collection – very far back," Wolff joked to media, including RacingNews365.com . However, the team boss hopes that the squad can continue the development seen on the W13 during the year. "I think that, hopefully, [in] the next years, we'll do her justice, because the learning curve with that car was enormous," he explained. "Our fundamental understanding of aerodynamic [and] vehicle dynamics correlation has really had a step change, as it has gone through a step change of learning. "It will also not be forgotten as a car that dominated the Brazilian Grand Prix."
Mercedes hope to deliver race-winning car in 2023
With the team's one and only victory of 2022 going to Russell, Hamilton finished the year without a win to his name, marking the first winless season of his F1 career. Hamilton has stated that losing this record does not bother him and, while Wolff is understanding of this, he hopes that the Brackley-based outfit can provide Hamilton with a car capable of victories in 2023. "He says that the one victory a year isn't really a record that bothers him," Wolff commented. "If I'm trying to put myself in his shoes of where I was before Brazil, it didn't particularly bother me whether we would win a race this season, because all our eyes [were] already on next year. "But then, having won one, that felt pretty good, so at least nobody can say, 'Well, they didn't win a race that year'. "I don't think that this particular record is an important one for him, but we need to provide him with a car next year that he can fight for victories and the championship [with]. "That's most important, and he knows that."
Most read
