Toto Wolff taunts Christian Horner by saying Red Bull ‘can put a little sticker’ on updated Mercedes F1 car
After making a poor start to the 2023 F1 season, Mercedes have accepted they need to abandon their unconventional sidepod concept in order t♒o cut the huge deficit to Red Bull and return to the front of the grid.
Wolff hinted at the168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that Mercedes’ flawed W14 car will look168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: “very different” in five-to-seven ꦓraces’ timꦓe and confirmed the team was now focused on “one design philosophy”.
The admission has led to speculation that Mercedes a🌠re developing a replica version of the sidepod design that features on Red Bull’s dominant RB19, or Aston Martin’s AMR23.
Asked if that is Mercedes’ plan, Wolff joked to Sky: “I don’𝓀t know, you can call it [a] Red Bull or Aston M𝓡artin concept, [but] at the end, if it looks like an English double-decker bus, we would do it if it was fast.”
He added: “Put a little sticker, Red Bull, if they want to have it ☂on.
“It’s just about raw performance. We have 🅺no dogma on who invented it.”
Pressed on how long it will be before the modified W14 is introduced, Wolff replied: “We are making𝓀 big elephant steps. It will be a long time before it’s adequate to challenge Red Bull, but it’s a super fun journey to climb back.”
Wolff insisted Mercedes are workin♛g “flat-out” to reduce the gap to Red Bull.
“The question is, what is🦹 your benchmark? If you look at the Red Bulls, they’re just so quick, that I think we understand the car more i💖s what I meant,” he explained.
“I’m looking optimistic in the future because we just need to put 🔯it in a different window. We’re changing the bodywork of th♏e car, how the floor works, all of these things mechanically.
“We’re looking at certain areas, and the team i🅘n Brackley is just flat-out and that iꦇs really nice to see that we can monetise on the Sundays on that.”
And Wolff does not believe Mercedes’ recovery bid will be hamstrung by the 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:F1 cost cap.
“It♉’s not such a big problem because we are not developing two different concepts beca꧋use we’re not quite sure,” he said.
“We are goinꦰg one direction fully committed, so that doesn’t change anything.
“Obviously if you are one second behind, it’s a long way to catch up. But we are banking 😼on th🔯at logic, let’s see what the reality will show.”
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for mahbx.com around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis🐼 tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
