Rejuvenated Toto Wolff Issues a Rallying Cry to Mercedes F1 Ahead of Austrian GP

Despite their dominance in recent times, Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff has a major job on his hands this season. Although they secured a double podium in the Styrian Grand Prix last weekend, they looked far off Red Bull’s pace throughout the weekend.

Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix on the same race track, Wolff remained optimistic for the remaining races this season.

Toto Wolff believes “everything is possible” for Mercedes in 2021

The Silver Arrows trail Red Bull Racing by 40 points in the constructors’ championship heading into the Austrian Grand Prix. To make things worse, Lewis Hamilton fell further behind Max Verstappen in the driver’s championship after the Dutchman’s win last weekend.

Despite Red Bull outmatching Mercedes in eight races so far, Wolff believes Mercedes will mount a stiffer challenge in 2021. The Austrian looks forward to the coming weekend, admitting it will give opportunities for the Silver Arrows to improve.

He said, “The World Championship is a 23-round heavyweight fight this year and we’re only just a third of it behind us. Everything is still possible and there will still be many opportunities. That’s why we’re looking forward to round 9.” (Translated via Google Translate)

Wolff’s comments serve as an addition to Mercedes CTO James Allison‘s comments earlier this week, where he outlined improvements they could make to their car this season.

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Wolff outlines his team’s approach to the Austrian Grand Prix

The 49-year-old believes racing at the Red Bull Ring for a second successive time gives his team opportunities to improve. In addition, he also believes the Silver Arrows could benefit from a different strategy this weekend.

“Driving on the same route on two consecutive weekends also brings opportunities,” said Wolff. “Last weekend we experimented with the vehicle setup on Friday and we hope that this time in the first practice session we will be in a better position on which we can then build. 

“In addition, the tire compounds are different this weekend. This presents all teams with a new challenge and opens up new possibilities in terms of strategy.”

While the defending world champions seem to have no answers at the moment, Wolff’s words could provide the morale boost they need heading into Round 9 of the 2021 F1 season.

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