Toto Wolff does not believe the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team would have solved the issues they had with its W13 during the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season even if there was not a budget cap in place.
Mercedes had a troubled 2022 season, winning only once across the twenty-two races as they saw their run of eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships come to an end, the team dropping to third behind Oracle Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari.
Problems began to show themselves up during pre-season testing, with the W13 being affected by ‘porpoising’ throughout the season, with the bouncing it caused down the straights making it a difficult car to drive for both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
Mercedes attempted to find solutions throughout the season and were able to lessen the bouncing somewhat, but the problems remained right through to the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November.
And Wolff, the Team Principal of Mercedes, says it would have taken a lot more to get completely on top of the problem and having more of a budget to do so would not have been enough.
“We’re not lacking the capability, or we weren’t lacking any of the tools, nor time,” said Wolff to Formula 1’s Beyond the Grid podcast.
“It was more that we needed to peel off layer by layer in order to get to the ground of the problem. So it wouldn’t have changed anything.”
Wolff says the team have learned a lot heading into the 2023, particularly surrounding the porpoising and bouncing that they endured during 2022, and they will be going into the new season with more confidence with their W14.
“We are changing some of the architecture and the layout of the car that should point us in the right direction,” said Wolff. “But as it is with these new regulations, sometimes you uncover one problem and then you realise there was another underneath.
“We have to stay humble and not feel a sense of entitlement that we’re going to get back into this championship and win straight from the get-go. I’m really looking forward to it.”
