Having secured the first ever World Constructors’ Championship with their ninth one-two finish at Sochi three weeks ago, the focus for the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS team can now switch to the inter-team battle for the Drivers’ Championship between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg for the final three races of the year.
Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Toto Wolff admits the team were proud to have secured the Constructors’ Championship with three rounds of the year remaining, and that the mood within the teams’ factories has been buoyant ever since.
“We were immensely proud to have sealed the first ever Formula One World Constructors’ Championship for Mercedes-Benz at the first ever Russian Grand Prix a fortnight ago,” insisted Wolff. “The atmosphere since has been fantastic – and rightly so after the years of hard work that everybody has put into this achievement.
“What is particularly impressive, however, is that among the celebrations there has remained a strong sense of grounding and focus. Not just for the remainder of this season – but for the years to come. Success in Formula One does not come easily and we are determined to ensure that our performance this year is not a one-off but the first of many.”
Wolff now says the focus now is to give both Hamilton and Rosberg the best possibility to win the Drivers’ Championship this season starting with this weekend’s United States Grand Prix at Austin. He also believes that the United States is one of the major consumer markets for the Mercedes-Benz company, and is looking forward to getting to the track this weekend.
“For now, though, our priority is to give both drivers the best possible platform for an unhindered fight to the flag in Abu Dhabi,” said Wolff. “The first step, of course, is Austin – a weekend the whole paddock looks forward to and an important event in terms of bringing Formula One to the United States.
“The U.S. is the biggest consumer market in the world and the largest global market for Mercedes-Benz; thanks to the race in Austin, we can see that the US is playing a bigger role in our sport, too, with greater interest and investment at many levels. F1 has a passionate fan-base in the USA, which we can see growing all the time: the crowds at the first two races in Austin were absolutely mega, which is very encouraging for the future.”
