Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has ruled out his team's chances of winning titles this year. Having scooped the last eight consecutive Constructors' titles, and seven of the last eight Drivers' Championships, Mercedes have slipped behind Red Bull and Ferrari in competitiveness this year, and Wolff has acknowledged that the Brackley squad wouldn't be extending their winning streak in 2022. "No, that train left the station a long time ago," Wolff told German outlet Speedweek , when asked whether Mercedes had any chance of winning titles this year. Despite offering a downbeat assessment of Mercedes' title hopes, Wolff nevertheless said the Silver Arrows had closed the gap on the leading cars over recent races, after Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished a solid third and fourth at last weekend's Canadian Grand Prix. "Montreal has always been a good place for Lewis, and he was really strong with a car that was not easy to master. We can be happy about that," said Wolff. "Our pace in the race was good, especially when the tyres started to go off. "We got even closer to Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz at that stage of the Grand Prix and that was nice to see. "I think the fewer bumps there are on a track, the better it is for us."
Wolff hails Mercedes reliability
With the Mercedes duo also having finished third and fourth in the preceding Grand Prix at Baku, Wolff hailed the consistency of Hamilton and Russell, both of whom have finished every race so far in 2022. "The last two weekends in Baku and Montreal have shown that the team has the collective spirit to put in a solid points run, even if we lack the speed to challenge the guys up front," said Wolff. The Austrian added that he hoped his team would remain upwardly mobile for next weekend's British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where Mercedes have won eight of the last nine races. "Silverstone has always been good for us in the past, but the question is whether that still applies with the new car," said Wolff.
Most read
