The Stuttgart team principal draws the very first conclusions after mid-test: “The rivals are even faster, we have a more solid base, but we still need to grow and make developments. Lewis’ renewal? Let’s talk, but development is the priority at the moment , just change the numbers on the current contract”
February 24th
– sakhir (bahrain)
There Mercedes it is not yet at the level of Red Bull and Ferrari. Toto Wolff, team principal of the Stuttgart company, did not go around the problem that emerged after a day and a half of tests in Bahrain. Interviewed by Sky Sport F1, Wolff admitted that the W14 still has to grow: compared to its rivals: “We have to be realistic, Red Bull And Ferrari they are fast, they have similar characteristics to 2022, perhaps Ferrari is even faster, their level is very high. If we are all closer? That’s our target, there’s no reason to believe we won’t be competitive, but we’re still not at the level of Red Bull and Ferrari. I think we will fight back and for the first half of the season we will be closer. Us in the title fight? The goal is that, but to date I’m not optimistic. But we are a team that develops rapidly, we will analyze the data and see where to intervene”.
heat problems
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Today, Mercedes highlighted performance problems in the heat: “The program worked, the car is good, but this morning in the heat we are not balanced, we lack lateral grip and we can’t make too many changes in this session. Certainly the base is better than 2022, we are more confident because we understood what happened and we made developments, the base is more solid and the car doesn’t bounce, let’s see how it goes in the afternoon with lower temperatures”.
contract
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Finally, a joke about the renewal of Lewis Hamilton, whose contract is about to expire. “Obviously we’ll talk, but right now the development of the car is more important. In any case, we won’t have any problems because Lewis has been with us for 10 years, the contract is always the same and if necessary, we just need to update the data and figures. If we’ve thought about someone after Hamilton? No, because someone like Fernando Alonso is still very strong and is 3 years older than Lewis, so the issue is not a priority at all”.
February 24, 2023 (change February 24, 2023 | 12:17)
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