While Lewis Hamilton’s second-place finish in the China sprint race gave Mercedes a bit of hope, the team still struggled during the Sunday race, coming in behind McLaren and Ferrari.
Team boss Wolff believes Mercedes needs to do better and not just rely on small moments of success. He said, “I’m not satisfied at all. Maybe the second place in the sprint race was a small highlight, but overall, our performance wasn’t good enough.”
Wolff thinks Mercedes needs to step up its game instead of focusing on these bright spots. He added, “We can keep saying there were some good moments, but we need to improve. We’ll bring some changes for Miami, hoping for better results. But right now, being behind Ferrari and McLaren is just not good enough.”
Mercedes had hoped their car, the W15, would perform better this year, but they’ve faced challenges. The team initially thought their car was strong but had weaknesses in high-speed corners. However, they’ve discovered more problems as the season progressed, making it hard to find the right setup.
Wolff admitted that while they improved in high-speed corners, they lost pace in slower ones. He explained, “We gained in high speed, like in Suzuka, but we lost in low speed. So even though we improved in one area, we lost in another. Now, we need to find a balance.”
Despite not reaching the podium yet this season, Wolff doesn’t believe this year’s car is worse than their previous one. He thinks Mercedes was perhaps doing better before because their rivals weren’t as competitive.
He said, “Before, McLaren and Ferrari weren’t strong enough to compete with us. But now, they’ve improved. What used to be good enough for third place last year is now only good enough for sixth. So, it’s tough. The car is as challenging as it has been in the past.”
