Toto Wolff believes Mercedes are still far from "utter domination" in Formula 1 despite a crushing Brazilian Grand Prix weekend. The team scored their first win of the season at Interlagos as George Russell took his maiden victory, the day after he had won the Sprint race. Lewis Hamilton was third in the Sprint and second in the Grand Prix, 1.5s behind Russell, as Mercedes led all 71 laps and walked away with 58 points from an available weekend total of 59. The W13 was legitimately the fastest car in Sao Paulo before various troubles for other front-runners, but Wolff believes the result does not prove Mercedes will quickly return to the all-conquering success they have previously enjoyed.
Wolff on Brazil and Abu Dhabi
"We had the quickest package all through this weekend," Wolff told media, including RacingNews365.com . "Whether it was on the Soft tyre, on the Medium, we were quickest. "It is why I think it is just the sum of the parts of the developments that have been brought to the car, the good work that was done on the power unit side, and we've seen the positive trend over the last three races. "Are we back in utter domination? No, we are not. "On paper, Abu Dhabi will be much more difficult for us because we are still too draggy, but we know why. "I think we know why we were better, [but] do we know why were so far ahead of everyone this weekend? We don't."
Wolff 'super proud' of fightback
Mercedes' true 2022 problems were originally masked by the aerodynamic porpoising that so badly affected the car in the early stages of the season. Once that had been solved, the team realised that the W13 had a fundamental design flaw, thought to be linked with the floor of the car. Wolff has previously indicated this was the result of a single decision taken in October 2021, but remarked that he is "super proud" of the team turning their performance around to win a race on merit and finishing one-two. "I think the development capability of the team makes me super proud," he said. "We had situations where we felt that we understood [the problems] and then there were setbacks, like the tremendously difficult weekend in Spa, but the team never stopped believing that we were on the right trajectory. "[They acknowledged] that we didn't always understand everything, but it shows the mindset and values of the team. "I feel so proud for what [has been] achieved, and even more proud that what we've built with so many people can keep it up and made us win today."
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