Toto Wolff says it is pleasing for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team to get back on track this weekend at Silverstone so soon after their ‘bruising’ weekend in Austria.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished only seventh and eighth at the Red Bull Ring last weekend, the pace of the W14 not as strong as it had appeared in the previous two race weekends in Spain and Canada.
Wolff, the Team Principal at Mercedes, says the battle behind Oracle Red Bull Racing, which also includes Scuderia Ferrari and the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team this season, appears to fluctuate from race to race, and it is up to them to improve to ensure it is them who come out on top.
“We’re pleased to get back racing after a bruising weekend in Austria,” said Wolff. “We scored a handful of points, but we didn’t have the pace for much more.
“The field behind Red Bull is incredibly close and also fluctuating each weekend. Some of this is circuit-specific, and some the upgrade cycle across the grid. We fell on the wrong side of this equation in Spielberg, but we’ve got a chance to bounce back immediately.
“The Team has been hard at work to analyse and draw learnings from our performance. We have taken the result on the chin and will aim to recapture the momentum we had built up across previous races.”
Wolff says there is optimism that upgrades to the car and experiments that Mercedes will undertake will help the team make a step forward this weekend around a track that always produces great racing.
“With the next upgrades and experiments coming in Silverstone, there are reasons for optimism,” the Team Principal added. “Nevertheless, we are not getting ahead of ourselves. We’re focused on the job at hand, extracting performance from the car, and will see where we stand this weekend.
“The British Grand Prix is one of the highlights of the season. The atmosphere at Silverstone is unique and the support from the fans is truly incredible. It’s also our local race, with the track just down the road from the factories in Brackley and Brixworth.
“It’s a fast and flowing layout which creates great racing, so hopefully we can perform well and put on a good show.”
