Although they came up short of taking their first victory of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season last weekend at the Circuit of the Americas, Toto Wolff says it was pleasing to see the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team mixing it at the front of the field against the likes of Oracle Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari.
Red Bull have dominated the season as a whole, winning fifteen of the nineteen races so far, while Ferrari have won the other four, leaving Mercedes, the dominant force in the turbo hybrid era up until 2022, in the background.
Wolff, the Team Principal at Mercedes, says the recent updates to the W13 appear to have brought them closer to the front of the field, and they were fighting for the podium all race long last weekend in the United States before settling for second for Lewis Hamilton and fifth for George Russell.
“Race day in Austin was quite a rollercoaster of emotions,” said Wolff. “While we didn’t quite have the pace to win, it was great to be in the mix at the front and leading the race.
“The upgrades we brought to Texas delivered a step forward and we were closer to the front than we have been recently.
“Lewis drove an outstanding race to finish P2 and George scored a good haul of points despite his damaged car.”
Wolff says it is important that Mercedes maintain their forward momentum this weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with the Mexico City Grand Prix the next opportunity for the team to finally take that first victory of a testing season.
“We need to keep this momentum going,” he said. “We’re cautiously optimistic heading to Mexico but the W13 can be unpredictable from track to track, so we’ll have to wait and see.
“It’s always good to be back in Mexico. The fans are fantastic and the atmosphere is spectacular every time we visit. They know how to put on a brilliant show so we’re looking forward to being back in Mexico City.”
Mercedes will use Nyck de Vries in the opening session in Mexico in place of Russell to fulfil their two free practice sessions across the season dedicated to young drivers, and Wolff is excited to see how the Dutchman performs in the W13.
“Nyck will be replacing George in FP1 this weekend as part of the young driver session allocation,” Wolff added. “We’re excited to see him back in W13 and seeing how he performs.”
