Toto Wolff has detailed how Lewis Hamilton's second-place finish in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint was validation that Mercedes was finally turning its F1 fortunes around.
When the W15 was launched, it was the first Mercedes in the ground effect era to be designed around conventional sidepods, but still proved off the pace and was fourth fastest behind Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren.
It would not be until Canada, round nine of the season, that Mercedes scooped a podium finish, but since then, it has claimed victory in Austria, Britain and Belgium, with pole positions in Canada and Britain for George Russell.
Hamilton also ended his long win drought by claiming victory at Silverstone, as the W15 has looked the second-fastest car in recent races, only behind McLaren's MCL38.
Reflecting on the first half of the season, Wolff highlighted Hamilton's P2 in the Chinese sprint race as confirmation the tide was beginning to turn in Mercedes' favour.
"The start of the season was difficult. Our aim over the winter had been to solve the underlying issues that hampered the W14, and we managed that but found new problems," Wolff explained.
"This made the picture clearer. We had ticked many boxes of things we thought had caused our issues, there was not a lot left over and the team worked hard to get on top of these issues.
"As we progressed, we realised what we were doing wrong. From that point on, we've made solid steps forward. We saw that in China. Lewis' Sprint P2 was a strong performance and a good indication of the potential the W15 had. It was encouraging.
"When we got to Europe, those signs kept coming. We saw a real correlation between the virtual world, the tunnel, the simulator and the track.
"It was a sense of relief but also motivating.
"We knew what performance we had to bring to the track. The factory worked incredibly hard to bring this as quickly and efficiently as possible."
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No surprise in Canada pole
Mercedes form has improved since both Russell and Hamilton were armed with a fresh front-wing upgrade in Canada, part of the steps taken to rectify the W15 after its slow start to the season.
Looking forward to the rest of the season, Wolff has set the team a simple goal in the drivers' and constructors' standings.
"Pole in Canada did not come as a surprise to us, we started to see many sessions that looked positive, not just on Friday when the track was green and where we had been misled in the past," he added.
"That has resulted in an upturn in fortunes. Three victories in the past four races is a testament to that. It has come from a lot of hard work and dedication from everyone at Brackley and Brixworth.
"The difference now from the start of the season therefore is that we have a car that can score solid points every week. We also have two top drivers that are able to make that happen.
"We have more work to do to be in the fight for victory every weekend. We have made good steps forward and we have a car that can perform near the front of the field. It is difficult to say what will happen in the final 10 races.
"The competitive order between the top four is close. That is a good thing though as it is making the sport incredibly exciting.
"We will be pushing hard to fight for more victories and aiming to get top three in both championships."
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