The first three races of Formula One’s 2024 season have been wrapped up. Three down, twenty-one to go.
With their trip to down under, the grid seems to have stabilised into set patterns. The teams have a better understanding of their cars, the consistent kinks they need to iron out — Mercedes, however, still does not seem to have an answer for these current technical regulations.
Since 2022, each year starts with a palpable hope that perhaps they will have the car to bring themselves back into contention. And yet, the Brackley-based team is returning home empty handed, with no points on the board after a painful double retirement.
Lewis Hamilton retired on lap 17 after a suspected engine failure, while Geroge Russell failed to take the chequered flag, spinning out and hitting the wall in a dramatic crash on the last lap of the race whilst fighting Fernando Alonso for P6.
Toto Wolff admits that the W15’s performance so far and what happened on Sunday is a tough pill to swallow.
“It’s tough to take. Super tough.
“And I would be lying if I would say at any moment I feel positive about the situation and optimistic. But you just need to overcome the negative thoughts and say, ‘we will turn this around’.
“Today it feels very, very, very brutal.”
The W15’s pace is especially lacking when one considers that before Russell had his crash, he was around 50 seconds behind the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.
Red Bull were entirely out of contention — Max Verstappen having retired from the race on lap 4 with right rear brake issues, while Sergio Perez was driving a car with a tear-off underneath his floor.
“I think he was 40 seconds back when I looked. Or maybe was it Norris? He was like 40 seconds behind Norris, but it isn’t any better than 80,” said Wolff.
The Austrian also suggested that there was short spells where they had stronger race pace. But most periods they did not and they were a long way off Ferrari and McLaren.
He also emphasises that this is not where Mercedes wants or expects to be.
“I think there were times in the race where we massively lacked pace and then there were times at the end when you compare like for like, I feel like we were doing okay [but] still not where we want to be.
“But you can see in the second stint, Fernando on the medium, we couldn’t come anywhere close. And the lap times looked like a second off the McLaren.
“And then suddenly in the last one, when we went for it, not worrying too much, the lap times were competitive. Not Sainz [level], but it was much better.”
Wolff then goes onto compare this year’s Australian Grand Prix, to last year’s — pondering how much Ferrari and McLaren improved, whilst Mercedes has gone backwards.
“We started the season in the belief that this car is better than it was last year. And then you look at last year and look at these guys [Ferrari], Leclerc crashed out and Sainz was fourth and got relegated to outside of the top ten because of the penalty. But on the road, he was fourth.
“And McLaren was 17th, 18th, 19th, and they are 40 seconds ahead of us.”
On one hand, Wolff expresses his frustration with not being on par with his competitors, on the other he admits that their success stands as evidence that any team can turn the tables around and make gains.
“So, obviously on one side, I wanted to punch myself in the nose. But on the other side, it’s a testimony that when you get things right, you can turn it around pretty quickly.
“And you’ve just got to continue to believe. But at the moment, it is a very tough time.”
No points leaves them 29 behind McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship. They are now only a point ahead of Aston Martin in the battle for P4.
