Toto Wolff acknowledges that Mercedes AMG F1 as a team has struggled so far this Formula One season, but says the team has found ways to improve aimed at helping Lewis Hamilton’s struggles.
Mercedes’ start to the Formula 1 season has fallen far short of expectations. And for good reason: while George Russell is doing well, Lewis Hamilton is in trouble at the wheel of his new car, as evidenced by his race at Imola where Max Verstappen lapped him.
Aware of the situation, Mercedes is looking at the best way to improve the car, and with the paddock in Miami this weekend, Toto Wolff seems quite optimistic about the improvements Mercedes is making.
“We have found several directions to improve the car,” claims Wolff,
“It was a very difficult weekend for us at Imola. George did a great job to finish fourth from an unpromising starting position. But on Lewis’ side, we didn’t give him the tools or track position to show his true pace,
“Since returning from Italy we have been learning as much as we can from the weekend and, in parallel, we have been learning in the wind tunnel and in simulations,
“We have found several directions to improve the car, and we will conduct experiments in Miami to correlate these simulations. We hope to confirm the development path for the next races. Both drivers have been working in the simulator before Miami and the factories have been busy producing developments for the next races.”
The best message that Mercedes can give Ham is “We have given you all that you have. Now get lost”!
This Toto statement surely underlines the fact that without the correct, exacting and fastest machinery, Hamma is not a fast driver any more, unable to make a slow car competitive. After all when has he ever had to do this in his career to date…, as many of the fans said at the end of last season…unlike George it seems. Hamma has had his day and should retire unless he plays out Vettel, and other has been drivers. Move along, nothing to see here.
It’s so easy for us, sitting in our armchairs at home and behind our keyboards, to make quick, emotional judgements on drivers and teams, when we in fact only know less than 1% of the actual facts.
Who are we to pass judgement when we don’t know the deep, technical intricacies of a particular strategy, setup, tactic or development path that a team has gone down, just because it fits our own preconceived notion or support? Comments like those above are perfect examples…. We shouldn’t.
Incidentally, I am interested to see if this gets posted, as my last 3 or 4 posts have failed to materialise 🤔
Of course we don’t know all the facts. But we do observe and see what unfolds. From there we create a hypothesis and as long as the hypothesis is not rejected by new observations or evidence… it stands.
The website is called “TheJudge”..?!
if you read my comment/opinion in another published article rather than a comments section…would you say the same? I doubt very much, exposing your “sit on the fence” attitude, scared perhaps of offering F1 opinion.
So then, what is your personal take on the article? Or is it that your own opinion is so far up Hammas you can’t see the wood from the trees?
Nicely put G, I would have been hard-pressed to trump(sorry) that. I have set great store by Sir Lewis Hamilton. We must never forget what he has achieved on the foundation that his father gave him. I am contrite in saying so in spite of two massive hurdles – his humble council house life and, yes, his ethnicity. More power to their elbows.
I shall be supporting (rooting!) for him, praying that the car will perform so that he can perform; I do so want him to get the Eighth, he deserves it. (In total opposition to the ‘bully boy’ Verstappen hijacking the WDC in 2021 in so wretched a manner). Go Lewis!
You see, even as a staunch Lewis supporter, I wouldn’t describe Max’s victory in AD as “HIM” hijacking the WDC. The team (ignoring the comms to the Race Director for a moment, and just focus on the pit strategy) did what any team would do in their situation, given the situation they were presented with
Max had done enough in my book to justify the title, maybe even moreso across the season than Lewis going into that weekend, but Lewis mastered the race and had tipped the balance back into his favour… until the safety car
Humbled by your response. Lewis has given so much to this sport! Sad to see the vitriol directed at him.
He’s marmite…. Good for the sport yes, but a bit too Geo-political when he knows sweet FA about that shit.
Can’t wait for Totos next apology..Lewis this time publically calling out his or Mercs strategy…with Bono pointing out…”and the safety car”…
And a fter Ted’s Notebook picking up on apparently Lewis leaving ALL pitstop decisions to the team, it seems that Lewis has a valid point…
If you know the things a dog, one better make sure management make all the decisions, so if it all goes wrong, you can say..”what me mate, I’m just the driver?!, the team tells me when to jump.!”…LOL…
Good result from Lewis…much much better, but Russell’s pace and obvious Strat, in starting on the Hards so low down on the start, was again better than Lewis in the end…amazing how fortunes reverse at different tracks yet the fastest driver srill shines.
Well said G I couldn’t agree more. I’ll ignore these too quick to judge morons,they sound like typical football goons to me.
By calling them all ‘goons’ and ‘morons’, you do exactly what you say you don’t… judging from your armchair
My opinions of drivers are just as valid as anyone else’s, in an armchair or not, however i do not have to justify myself to anyone, other than God and my wife.
I am not afraid to give my opinion irrespective of pov…I myself might not agree with your view, but at least I will respect it.
That said and like it or not, this Toto statement, whilst trying to support Lewis, equally does relay that he or the Team cannot easliy reconcile the two drivers’ performances to date other than saying in effect that Lewis doesn’t have the equipment.
That frankly is a poor excuse, with ‘identical’ cars, setup aside. There was no power loss or engine management issues reported by the team to separate them. It was purely down to the driver, their setup/race prep and their skill to get the most out of the situations they found themselves in.
In race, DRS and overtaking opportunities aside, something Lewis complained about of course, George’s performance has been far greater across the whole season to date when compared to Lewis, much to Lewis’s chagrin and all his fanatical supporters.
Who said anything about not respecting an opinion? I merely stated that we should consider what we dont know, as much as that which we do, before we make statements such as “Hamma is not a fast driver any more, unable to make a slow car competitive” or “We have given you all that you have. Now get lost”!
Another thing to think about …
Given the limited budget, should you use it to develop the car in favour of your aging top driver that will almost certainly retire after next year if not sooner and then have to redevelop it for the replacement driver?
Or spend the money in favour of the young gun in your team, you expect to share a long future with.?
Oh to be a team principle eh?
Seriously tho, I think you will find that any TP will say that their priority is deploy resources to that which makes the car fast, and let the drivers work it out from their…. I think it was Gary Anderson who said as much recently in a podcast
I think whats going to be very interesting is to see if Lewis or George can actually start winning races and finish the season strong to upset the top contenders Ferrari / RedBull team final results even if Mercedes don”t get driver or constructors awards this year but once again demonstrate Mercedes teams depth and wealth of F1 knowledge despite the brain drain of engineers to Redbull and Ferrari this season.
Hamilton never had to develop a car. The Mclaren was already a winning car when H arrived, the Merc had been developed by Nico when H joined the team (that is why I was delighted by NR winning of 2016’s championship, it was simply 200% deserved).
No question about H ability as a driver, but, unlike Schumacher who spent 4 years developing a car to, ultimately, give him 5 championships in a row, this year we will see if H’s competences expand outside driving fast a fast car, or if he is able to make one to be fast. Russel already showed some of it while in Williams, so…
Interesting to watch, surely.
“Hamilton never had to develop a car?”
I think you’ll find that the MP$ 24 in 2009 was a dog, was at the back of the timesheets in testing, Martin Whitmarsh criticised it as being under developed and that they had not done a good enough job”, but went on to score 2 wins, 5 podiums and 4 poles