As the infamous 2021 season concluded, Toto Wolff told the Drive To Survive crew, “Everyone has a target on their backs next season.” With Mercedes having won its eighth consecutive Constructors’ Championship that season, most of the F1 world was certain the Brackley team would have a target on its back in 2022. Turns out, Mercedes proved everyone wrong in the worst possible way. Instead of being the ‘chased’ in the past couple of seasons, Mercedes has been a ‘chaser’ just like everyone else, trying to match Red Bull. While that eighth championship should’ve had a positive impact on the team, James Vowles revealed it was quite the opposite.

Williams’ Team Principal and former Head of Strategy at Mercedes, James Vowles, said the mentality not to waste a second has exhausted Mercedes. “We don’t reset ourselves. We always exhaust ourselves more. You can’t celebrate the present moment. You can’t celebrate the success you have because if you do, you fall behind.” Mercedes has fallen behind by a considerable margin this year, especially considering it had to revamp the W14 entirely. Because of all the ups and downs after, and the erratic performances, Wolff & Co. have struggled to understand it properly and headed into the summer break on a confused note.

Wolff, though, has instilled faith in the Silver team’s fans. In Mercedes’ Mid-Season review, Toto said, “The positives are that we see some development paths that work, and we understand where we need to add more performance. It’s a frustrating process, it takes time to fundamentally change a car, the concept in aerodynamics, but there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel.”  There won’t be any Mercedes fan who wouldn’t want to see the Brackley outfit turn its season around.

He added, “I am very happy with the direction we are going. The sails are now set for 2024. Now with the car development almost stopped for this year. There is so much we can optimize on the current car without looking too much to upgrades. Let’s see if we can really get it into a sweet spot while gaining lots of understanding for next year.” But the question is, will Lewis Hamilton be there to see the improvements through?

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Toto Wolff is doing “everything he can” to make Lewis Hamilton stay

If there’s one thing Mercedes fans are more worried about than the team’s performances, it’s whether or not Lewis Hamilton will stay at Mercedes after his contract expires at the end of this season. Even though Hamilton and Wolff revealed that the negotiations are over, and it’s all just down to the final bits and pieces, every day that passes without a contract extension being announced has everyone worrying. But Toto Wolff stated he’s doing everything possible to ensure the seven-time champion stays at Brackley.

In an interview on BBC’s Desert Island Discs podcast, when Wolff was asked if Hamilton would continue his tenure at Mercedes, he replied, “Well, I very much hope so.” As per an article on F1.com about Hamilton’s contract, Wolff said, “I’m doing everything I can to make him stay. I think there is no need to persuade him. He knows about all the goodness, and although we struggled with the car this year and last year, he will be part of the resurrection of the team.”

Whether or not Hamilton signs his contract extension during the summer break, Toto Wolff and Mercedes would hope they come out of the break with at least their W14 development as a positive.

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